The Bitter Core
by I AM NOT A MORON
Summary: Chell was relieved to escape the iron clutches of the Science Goddess. She thought she could finally lead a happy and peaceful life. She thought she could live in harmony with other humans. She thought the nightmare was over. Oh, how so very wrong she was.
1. Prologue

**The Bitter Core**

**Prologue**

She had always had a peaceful life. Killing humans with neurotoxin. Using the more clever ones as test subjects. It had been a great life since She'd been woken up, and the best part was, it was going to last forever, and ever, a blissful life of testing every single human there was left on the planet. And if humans got boring, or She -_accidentally-_ filled the Relaxation Vault with neurotoxin, She could create robots to test. And then She'd test with robots, for the rest of their lives. She literally had Science itself at Her doorstep. She _lived _in Science.

But there was one thing holding Her back. It was, of course, those _persistent _humans, that would try anything to control Her so that _they _could take over Science. They would hang cores on Her all the time so She could never think straight. It made Her feel like an idiot. And She did _not_ like feeling like an idiot.

_The problem is, GLaDOS, you _are _an idiot and you know it_, came the horrible voice of that new core they'd attached to Her. How dare it call Her an idiot? And how dare that _moron _even call Her by Her real name, GLaDOS? She was _married _to science, She was the Queen of Aperture.

And She liked revenge.


	2. Chapter 1

**Silence**

Wheatley slid quietly along his management rail through the dark, silent Facility. "Everything's just fine, don't panic," He told himself, praying that he would stay calm. His frightnened voice echoed back at him from the dark shadows of the test chambers ahead. He knew what was ahead of him. And he didn't want to go.

Finally, Wheatley arrived at the Relaxation Vault, where all the humans were kept. He liked to call them his humans; not that he was very fond of them, it was just nice to think that something in the cruel world that he lived in, did actually belong to him.

His optic darted around the darkening vault as his fear started to grow. Knowing that if he took too long She would punish him, Wheatley pulled himself together and gathered the only thought he had left in him that gave him the courage to go near them ; The fact that at least he was doing this, and not the job She told him he was made for.

Arriving at the door of the test subject She wanted, Wheatley knocked, hoping sincerely the human was dead, or asleep, or unconcious. He waited in the silence that always haunted him; The feeling of dread filled every circuit in him as he waited there.

He always wondered why the humans did what they did. He wondered what it was like being them, sometimes. And sometimes - very rarely, but sometimes - He actually pitied them. Trapped in Aperture for the rest of their lives, probably. Just like him. But at least they didn't live forever. Or maybe that was a bad thing.

Suddenly, the door snapped open. Wheatley, jumping out of his trance, let out an exclaimation. "Argh! Oh, hello. You look, erm, great." The words tumbled out of his speakers as he tried to think of something else to say, anything else to say, to distract himself from the constant glare of that human's cold, blue eyes.

"So, uh, what are you up to? Sleeping? Eating? Excreting? Sorry, that's none of my business, shouldn't ask that. Are you ready to go? Oh right, I haven't told you, have I? She wants you. To test. So, good luck with that! Just follow me, and I'll, uh, show you the way! That is.. ah.. if I can remember..." his voice trailed off as did his efforts to keep the spirit bright. The human Wheatley was adressing was tall, thin and very pale. The clothes he wore were stained and old, and it looked like he had been kept alone for longer than he could remember. He had matted black hair and beard and he had a skeletal look about his face. He also knew Wheatley. But he wasn't his friend.

"Oh. It's you." He said, his face stretching into a twisted grin. "The _moron_." Wheatley flinched at the word, and he felt his fear becoming worse as he started to back off along his rail. "Er, yes, hello! Glad to see your, uh, smiling there. Very - erm - nice looking smile you've got. Not scary at all. Just love it. Anyway if you'd just like to follow me, that would be fantastic. She'll be _very_ pleased to see you, I'm sure, you're Her favourite test subject. I think!"

"She wants me does She?" He asked. "She wants to _watch_ me test?"

"That's right, She loves watching - " Wheatley fell silent, with the feeling of dreadful knowing in him, knowing he had said the wrong thing. The man's insane grin had flickered into a look of terrible rage. As Wheatley backed into the shadows, the man followed him, reaching up towards him. "That's - that's good! You're following me, well done! This is, uh, great meeting up with you, and me telling you to follow me, and you say, yeah sure! It's -It's really good!" Wheatley spluttered in alarm.

Before he could get any further away from him, Doug lept up and grabbed hold of one of Wheatleys handles. "Oh, no, please don't do that!" He exclaimed as he struggled to shake him off. "Seriously, you don't know how much that hurts!" Wheatley slid along his management rail, his optic darting around in pain and fear. "Please! Let go!" He begged, but the man was trying to prize him off of his rail. "Why do you do this to me? Why? I've never done anything to you, have I? I've tried all my life to look after you humans, and this is all I get! Pulled off my management - ARRRGH!" He screamed in agony and alarm as he fell away from his rail, and landed miles below with the loud clatter of metal against stone.

Tiny Wheatley rolled around on the cold floor, a pool of oil leaking from the dented metal. His shutters were closed in pain as he lay there, face-down, broken and almost dead on the floor. In the silence, he sobbed in his pain and mysery...

"Oh. It's you again," an eerily musical, feminine voice echoed throughout the empty Facility. "I suppose you accidentally slipped off your rail. Again. Oh, you poor little... wait, what are you? Oh, of course. How could I forget. Your a _moron_."

Wheatley twitched in fear at Her voice, and just managed to open his shutters a few millimeters. His optic was cracked and he could barely see through it, but he could just make out that he was lying in the middle of a test chamber, and the cieling was closing up above him.

"Please, help me." He begged, and for once, his friendly, enthusiastic little body was paralized as he rolled lifelessly around on the floor of the chamber.

"I'm sorry. I can't. I'm in the middle of a test right now, or I would be, if _someone_ had found the test subject I asked _someone _to bring to me," She replied coldly. "Now I have to put up with... this _monster _of a woman instead."

Wheatley heard an offended intake of breath as if the person She talked about was going to argue back, but he couldn't see the woman who had made the sound. He wondered vaguely why she wasn't replying...

The pain and misery overcoming him, Wheatley closed his shutters again, crying tears of oil, slipping out of conciousness...

In his blindness and pain, he felt warmth. _Human warmth._ Someone was carrying him, he could feel himself swaying to and fro as she ran, he could feel her soft hair brushing against him... He attempted to open his shutters again, but all he managed to do was emit a few painful sparks, and give a crackled yelp.

"What's wrong with me?" He tried to say. His speech was broken like the rest of him, which made him feel even smaller, even more helpless.

He felt someone's stare upon him, but he couldn't see who she was. He just knew he was in her arms, and he was safe. All he wanted was to snuggle into her comforting warmth and stay there until the pain passed...


	3. Chapter 2

**The Punishment**

"ARGH!" Wheatley exclaimed in shock. He'd had that nightmare again, that dream about what had happened years ago... He opened his oil-stained shutters and looked around through his cracked optic. He groaned as he remembered where he was. Nothing much had changed since he last looked, he was still trapped in-

"Space," The corrupted core he was stuck with said happily, looking around as if he'd seen it for the first time. It was so long ago they'd actually arrived here, so long ago since the only human he trusted betrayed him, but when Wheatley looked back at it he supposed he deserved what he got.

He should never have lost control. He should never have turned against his only friend, just because he had power. It was his own fault she betrayed him. And, he was a - he was- a _moron_. Or at least he _had been_. Oh, yes, spending however long he'd spent in space had made Wheatley a wise core. He had learnt something he would never forget; listen to Her next time. Oh nooo, _never _listen to Wheatley. Why should anyone listen to _him_?

Wheatley sat there in space, surrounded in his bitterness. Nothing - _nothing_ - ever went right for him. And why should it? He was just a _worthless_ piece of junk, with no use whatsoever. And nobody loved him.

Nobody.

Wheatley's anger ebbed away as he felt the heavy weight of sadness upon him again. There was no way to get away from it. He would never forget the look in that girl's grey eyes when he smashed that tiny, lifeless potato into her elevator. He wished he had never lost control. If they'd just escaped, if She hadn't said anything, they would have been okay, he was sure of it...

Wheatley gave a small sob. He cried a lot these days, however tough he was meant to be. In the end he was just a miserable broken ball of metal rolling round the moon, that no-one cared about. He wasn't the happy, loveable core he had thought he was.

The space core broke the sad silence with an excited "Space! Space ship approaching! Space shuttle! Rocket! Space!"

"Yes, mate, there's rockets in space," Wheatley replied miserably.

"Space! Rocket going to space! Space shuttle. In space! Space," The space core babbled franticly.

Wheatley snapped out of his miserable trance and looked round. "Wait, what?" He asked the core.

"Rocket! Going to moon in space! Going to see some space."

Wheatley looked over to where the space core was facing, which was difficult as he was meant to be spinning on an axis. He found if he moved his handles in a certain way and twisted his faceplate, however, he could just about look round. There was certainly a space shuttle of some sort, leaving the earth. He saw it was heading straight for the moon, but him and his companion weren't in it's path.

"Well, there's no chance of getting onto the rocket and escaping, mate," Wheatley replied dully to the space core.

"Wanna stay in space. Space," Came the reply.

The shuttle was approaching the moon now, and it was getting closer by the minute. In their orbit, Wheatley and the space core were heading towards the shuttle's path, and Wheatley couldn't help but feel a flutter of hope within him as he watched the rocket speeding through space.

Finally, the shuttle was approaching them. Now it was so close, the speed at which it was travelling was alarmingly fast-

_Woooosh_.

It passed them.

Spinning from the speed of it, Wheatley yelled desperatley after the shuttle; "Come back, Come back!" He didn't know what he had expected to happen, but he thought he might be able to call out to the astronauts or something, so that he could have got help.

And worst of all, his spinning from the shuttle wasn't slowing down. He hadn't picked up a new pace spinning-wise, had he? Was this going to be the rest of his life, spinning at this speed? It was bad enough normally, but _this _speed? Really? Suddenly he gave a huge wobble, and felt himself moving slowly towards the moon-

"Okay, I need a plan! Think, think, think..." He told himself as every star rushed past him over and over again in a thin line of light. "Hey, are you still there?" He called out to the space core. "Can you hear me?" But it was no use. The closer he was to the moon, the faster he travelled, until he was falling, the grey rock hurtling towards him -

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...


	4. Chapter 3

**Landing**

Wheatley closed his shutters tight, waiting for the final blow, waiting to die, once and for all. But it didn't come. Was he still falling? How would he find out, he was in space! Wheatley couldn't bear it any more. Very slowly, he opened his shutters a tiny crack; All he could see was the starry sky above him, the endless darkness of space. Was he dead? If so, there wasn't much difference. He opened his shutters fully and looked around him. He was very close to the moon; infact, somehow, he was hovering only a few feet above it. He had the vague feeling someone was holding onto him, so he turned to face them.

"Argh!" He yelled in shock as he saw an ominous-looking astronaut looking down at him. "Where's your face?- I mean- hello! You just- you just saved me! Wow!" He looked up at the astronaut in awe. "Uh, do you know if you can get us out of here?" Wheatley asked. "I've been trapped up here for a while now... So if you do know the way out of here, that would be amazing if you could take me back home. You know, just give me a lift. Up to you really. Put it this way, I can't move by myself and I will be stuck on the moon forever if you don't take me back. By myself."

The astronaut carried Wheatley along the rocky surface of the moon. "Whoa, glad I didn't hit that," He said looking at the hard stone. "Imagine that! I probably would have died!" He laughed nervously. "Actually, that's not really that funny when you think about it, is it..." He added, trying not to imagine how much pain he would have been in if he hadn't been caught.

Wheatley was now at the shuttle. As he looked up into the starry sky he saw the space core. Would he be okay on his own? He had never been good company, but if Wheatley was left completely alone in space he was sure he'd probably have gone more corrupt than the space core. He was reassured, however, by a very distant "Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace..."

"Whoa, what are you doing with me? Leave me alone, please! Argh!" Wheatley panicked as he was stuffed into a bag. "Will I be coming out of here? Any time? Because this is actually worse than being stranded in space... don't know if you know what it's like but it is not a good feeling. Hello? Are you still there? Can you hear me?" What was going on? Where was he? He felt the bag being crammed carelessly into a box and he was now completely blinded by the darkness, and surrounded by the terribly familiar, sterile smell that haunted Aperture...

Suddenly he heard an engine start up. It was very loud and filled his sound receptors. "Could someone turn that off please?" He shouted over the deafening sound. But it continued and became louder as he felt himself being lifted off the moon by the shuttle.

The journey lasted a long time, and it wasn't the most comfortable journey. In fact it was probably the most painful and chaotic journey he had ever experienced, unless falling off his management rail was called a journey. There was now no gravity in the shuttle and although Wheatley was used to floating around space, he was not used to floating around a cargo department in a shuttle and hitting heavy containers filled with moon rock.

After a long time, Wheatley heard a very faint, muffled, but strangly familiar voice, over the sound of the engine. He could just make out what it was saying;

"Warning- Approaching Earth's gravitational field in three... "

A horrible realisation hit Wheatley like a bolt of lighting...

"...two..."

_...It was the Aperture announcer's voice._

"...one..."


	5. Chapter 4

**Abnormally Stubborn**

Chell sat in the corner of the room, hugging her companion cube in her arms as she vaguely watched the news on the TV. "Are you okay over there?" Phoebe, her room-mate asked her, feeling her stare. Humans weren't the best company, she thought sadly, but all the same she nodded and smiled in reply. Phoebe was one of her fellow students at night school, as Chell had started studying there to make up for the lack of education in the past.

But Chell didn't want to think about the past. That horrible, traumatic past was the cause of her disablitly to speak, her broken wrist and her ripped earlobes. GLaDOS had done everything She could to make Chell's life a misery, but now she'd finally escaped Her and could get on with her real life.

The news reporter's voice stated in the background as Chell worked, "A rocket from the moon that has just arrived..."

She tried to push the memory of Aperture out of her mind. It was the most cruel place she had known, and she would never return there for the life of her...

"Some people have been caught smuggling moon rock from it's luggage containers-" Wait.

_Moon rock?_

Chell looked up at the sound of the word. Why would they be smuggling moon rock? Well, maybe just because it was expensive. She was probably being paranoid. It wasn't her fault though, she _had_ been trapped in test chambers full of the stuff for a long time. The reporter rambled on,"We have also discovered a robot with possible artificial intellegence, however it has been badly damaged..."

_They'd found a robot?_

Could it possibly be...?

Chell fought with herself for a moment. She didn't want to look up. She'd left Aperture behind her. She'd promised herself never to look if that _moron's_ name was called. But he was more than a moron. He was a friend. He had been her only friend. She had to see him. Slowly, her heart in her mouth, her stomach churning, she raised her head and looked at the TV screen. She froze.

_It was him_.

He sat there in the middle of the TV screen, staring up at the camera with panic in his cracked optic. He seemed to be struggling to stay concious...

She felt her body collapse as she looked at Wheatley for the first time in years. She had never wanted to see him this way. She had to stop it. She watched helplessly as two scientists carried him off the scree, watched that flickering optic...

She was going to find them and _make _them fix him. They _had_ to.

Chell picked up her compainion cube, strapped on her long fall boots and left the building. She was going to save Wheatley.

As soon as she arrived at the space station she ran to the nearest office. The woman at the desk asked; "Can I help you?" and looked at her inquiringly. Chell handed her a piece of paper she had written on. The woman read through it with slight difficulty - Chell's child-like writing wasn't the easiest to read. She nodded slightly unbelievingly. "Right," She said. "I don't know what you're planning to do, because they won't just give up an unidentified object smuggled from space."

She looked at Chell as if she was slightly mad, but Chell glared straight back with stubborn grey eyes. "Um, okay," The woman added, slightly taken aback and uncomfortable from Chell's stare. "They, uh, took it to a science research company, but I'm afraid it's top secret, only the scientists know where it is." Chell stood at the desk, wondering what to do next. Could she somehow get it out of the woman? No, it didn't look like even she knew.

Chell knew she couldn't do this alone. No-one could tell her where this hidden research facility was, it was top secret. No one, except maybe one person she knew... and that wasn't even a proper person. But she had to give it a go.

_She had to see GLaDOS again._

Chell got out of her old car and sat down in the wheat field, enjoying some fresh air. Maybe it was breathing the same air over and over again for years on end at Aperture, but Chell had developed a minor case of claustraphobia since she had experienced freedom and she hated it when she didn't go out at least once a day.

As she sat there and enjoyed the feeling of the sun shining on her face, just like GLaDOS had described the feeling of a light bridge, memories of this place came flooding back to her. She remembered when she had sat here in this very wheat field with nothing but a Weighted Companion Cube for company, staring up at the moon and wondering where Wheatley was. She had actually debated, after her whole life wanting freedom, whether she should have returned back to the Facility and demanded to stay there forever. That had been her darkest moment, however strange it seemed. The Facility had been her entire life, her only memory. And she hadn't wanted freedom, not after what her and Wheatley had been through together.

But finally when she found civilization, she got support and started a job looking after the baby animals in the local wildlife sanctury. Her favourite animal was probably the deer.

She had _never _looked back after she had started her new life, and she had certainly _never_ thought she would ever come back here. But then again, one part of her mind, in the back of her head, knew it was inevitable. Why else did she still keep her compainion cube with her wherever she went, and leave her long fall boots in the back of her car?

Chell shook herself free of her thoughts and got up. She lowered her grey eyes to the soft ground below her and started to pick her way through the long stalks of wheat. As she pressed on through the seemingly endless field, the hot, mid-day sun started to catch up with her. She was beginning to feel slightly tired, walking through the long grass, with nothing but wheat on the horizon. It wasn't easy walking on soft ground with the long fall boots and she was beginning to wonder why she'd brought them. She supposed it just felt... _right_ to her.

What seemed like hours later, Chell was still walking. Her body felt so heavy she felt she couldn't bear a second longer walking, and her tounge was so dry it felt like a useless piece of leather that stuck to the roof of her mouth. Chell was surprised at how she had never noticed how heavy her long fall boots were; the further she walked the harder it was to pick up her feet, and she was starting to feel a splintering pain in her knees, which she supposed was the long term effect of implanting and removing leg braces.

Maybe the shack GLaDOS had let her out of was only a temporary exit, Chell thought. Maybe there was normally no entrance to Aperture, unless She wanted there to be. Chell sighed with fustration as she scanned the horizon; but this time her heart skipped a beat.

Was that a shack she saw, very far in the distance?


	6. Chapter 5

**Walking on Cat Ice**

When Chell finally arrived outside the shack, she was shaking with nerves. What if GLaDOS didn't let her escape, and used her as a test subject again? Or what if She just killed her with neurotoxin?

She had come this far, and there was no turning back now. And if GLaDOS couldn't help her, Chell didn't know who could. She had to turn to her greatest enemy for help, just like when GLaDOS had turned to her.

Chell hesitantly stepped forward, looking doubtfully at the door. She remembered it had been quite a strong metal door, and it wasn't as easy to break as it looked from the outside. There didn't appear to be a handle. So Chell raised her hand and knocked lightly on the door.

She waited for what seemed like forever. Until-

_Creak_.

The door swung open gently.

Chell stood outside the building, staring in fear at the horribly familiar elevator waiting for her inside the shack. She knew where that went.

Very slowly, one small step after another, taking her last breaths of fresh air, Chell slipped into the elevator.

Instantly the door slammed shut and her elevator sunk down below the surface, and the terrible, sterile smell of Aperture filled her nostrils...

Suddenly the elevator came to an abrupt stop, and Chell closed her eyes, dreading what she saw next. But the horrible, sarcastic musical voice filled her ears;

"Oh good. It's you. _Again_."

Chell slowly raised her head, and opened her eyes to stare through the glass. And she saw the worst nightmare that had been haunting her for years.

Wearing a shaul of tangled wires, protected by the shining white, curved metal plates of armor, glaring right into Chell's eyes with that bright orange optic-

_It was Her_.

Chell instantly wanted to get out, she wanted to wake up from this nightmare, anything to escape Her. She pressed her sweating hands against the glass of the elevator, desperate to leave.

"I don't remember telling _you_ to come back. In fact, I remember telling you to do the exact opposite," GLaDOS told Chell calmly, but her optic was narrowed in hatred. "So, what do you want? Are you just going to stand there and glare at me until I accidentally fill your elevator with neurotoxin, or are you going to say something - Oh. I forgot. You can't speak."

At this, the old anger of being constantly insulted started to creep through Chell, overcoming her fear. She was not going to stand here and let Her insult every flaw in Chell that She had caused in the first place. She was going to stand her ground.

"Well, I don't think this elevator can take any more of your weight, so I suppose you'd better get out of there and do whatever you have to do," GLaDOS told her, looking at her, satisfied to see her anger. The glass doors of the elevator slid open smoothly and Chell stepped out gratefully.

How was she going to tell GLaDOS what she wanted to say? How was she going to ask Her? Suddenly she had a brain wave. She mimed writing with a pen in mid-air to request writing what she wanted.

"Oh, I never knew you could write," GLaDOS said to Chell, lowering a panel with a keyboard on it to her. "Well, I suppose you learn a valuable lesson every day. Yesterday I learned that you should never listen to humans. They're much better off without speech. So I suppose when you think about it, that makes you one of the best humans I know. Oh, your also the only human I know. That makes you the worst too."

Chell paused at GLaDOS' snide remarks, glaring up at Her determindedly. _I need your help,_ She finally typed.

"Oh joy. I suppose in some way or another, it involves you trying to kill me, not once, but _twice_, a _moron_ stuffing me into a potato battery, and me being forced to remember what I was before they woke me up- oh. I forgot. That's already happened. So, what do you want this time?"

_I don't want to stay in this place. I need to know something._

"Well that's something," GLaDOS replied. "So, what do you need to know? It's kind of sad that you came in _here _of all places to ask _me_ something. Why couldn't you have asked anyone else? Oh, of course. How did I not think of that earlier? You obviously don't have any friends. I expect no-one really cares about you, do they?"

Despite Her cynicism, there was a small ring of truth in what GLaDOS said and it really hurt Chell. She might have friends at night school but no-one had cared for her like Wheatley had, or GLaDOS had before She had deleted Caroline. She paused to hide her face before she continued typing; _Do you know any other top secret science research facilities besides this one?_

GLaDOS froze.

Chell knew GLaDOS was dangerous, and could be extremely angry when she wanted, but she had never seen Her like this. Her entire mainframe body stiffened and Her optic narrowed so much it was hard to see the faint orange light that showed She was awake.

"Oh," She said, sounding almost shocked. "That."

Chell waited in silence, not daring to type anything incase it made Her even more angry. Why was She so angry in the first place, though? Chell had only mentioned a science research facility.

Finally, GLaDOS said something. "Well, there's _Black Mesa._" She spat out the name bitterly and hatred filled every syllable in her robotic voice. "But what would you want with _them_ anyway? They're filthy scum bags, that stole all of Aperture's ideas and equipment."

Black Mesa, Black Mesa... Where had Chell heard that name before? She was sure someone else had said something about them before... Where did it come from?

"So, what do you want with them? Are you going to get revenge? Because if you are, tell them for me, they can eat my bankrupt-" Suddenly Her voice cut out and was replaced with "-Sir, the testing?"

Of course! It came from Cave Johnson. He had said it when Chell had been trapped in Aperture's old test chambers.

"Why did I just say that?" GLaDOS asked Herself, surprised. "I'm sure I've said that before... Well anyway. What are you going to do? You'd better be getting revenge."

In reply, Chell wrote; _Where are they?_

"Of course. I'll give you the exact co-ordinates. Actually no. I'll give you this new portal device, with the tracking system I've recently created, so you don't have to come crawling back when you get lost. You can be my test subject again. And it will be getting revenge. I can kill two birds with one stone. I don't like birds."

However much Chell hated being called Her test subject, she nodded her head and waited as a podium raised out of the floor. On top of it was the familiar portal device, but with a small heart where the light should be.

"I customised it especially for you," GLaDOS told her. "Now, it will automatically shoot a portal right outside _their_ facility. This new device can portal anywhere except exclusively made anti-portal surfaces, but don't try to use it on glass. It will shatter as soon as it touches the portal beam."

Chell hesitated before she took a step towards the portal gun. She wasn't sure if she could believe her luck. GLaDOS wasn't thinking this through at all. She had just given Chell a portal device and now She was letting her out of the Facility without even knowing what she was going to do at Black Mesa. She supposed GLaDOS seriously just wanted her to leave.

Chell picked up her new portal device and rested it on her arm. She had forgotten how heavy it was, but still found it easy enough to hold. "Go, now, and don't come back," GLaDOS told her. "And... good luck."

Chell stepped backwards into the lift and instantly felt it ascending to the surface. Below her she heard GLaDOS saying with pride; "And when life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade."


	7. Chapter 6

**Black Mesa**

Chell looked down at her new portal gun. She saw a new trigger on it as she examined it; Auto-track. She paused. Was it a good idea? She couldn't help thinking it might just be a trap, after what GLaDOS had said, and how much she had thought through it. It wasn't like Her to not think through plans...

Clearing her head, Chell took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. She instantly heard a tinny voice, that sounded like the announcer; "Please insert name of destination."

The small companion heart opened to reveal a tiny keypad. More keyboards, Chell thought, irritated. She was sure GLaDOS saw how much difficulty she had with typing and decided to add a keypad into the portal gun. Still, how else was she supposed to tell the portal gun where to go? Sighing, she slowly typed in; _Black Mesa_.

"Please do not move while your portal is deployed," The announcer commanded as the portal gun gave a shudder. "Portal will be deployed in three... two... one..."

The portal gun gave a voilent jerk and a bright blue spark of lighting shot from the "operational end", as GLaDOS had described it years ago. Chell watched the lightning fade and shot a portal onto the ground before jumping through it.

She fell forwards, but landed softly in warm sand. Chell picked herself up, taking in her surroundings. She had just landed in the middle of a desert. She _knew_ this was a trap.

She turned back to her portal, but instantly noticed a large building in front of her. Maybe it wasn't a trap. Maybe, for some reason, GLaDOS was actually being genuine for once. She edged round the building quietly, looking for an entrance. It wasn't a large building; only just about the size of a small apartment, like the one she had left behind. She was already missing home, that lovely feeling of knowing where she was...

Chell shook herself free of her thoughts. She was not being so pathetic, and she was _not_ heading back. She was going to _make_ those idiots fix Wheatley... But what if they couldn't? What if he was gone forever? What if he was- No. He couldn't be. It just couldn't happen. Chell pushed the thought out of her head again and continued to search for an entrance.

The building was completely windowless, but there was a door on one of the walls. Chell tried turning the handle, but it was locked.

What did she have on her that could pick locks? She could use the pointy bit at the end of the gun, but if it broke her portal gun she could be in a lot of trouble. Maybe it was an idea to look through the keyhole, before- wait. Of course! The keyhole. Chell aimed her portal gun through the tiny hole and shot her orange portal inside. She knew she was losing the portal back at Aperture but she could just use the tracking system when she needed to get back.

Chell shot a blue portal on the wall outside of the building and cautiously looked through. There was no-one there, so she sneaked into the room. Instantly she heard a loud bleeping sound, and a series of gunshots sounded followed by a splintering pain in her left arm - cieling turrets. Gasping in agony, Chell stumbled back through the portal, dropping her portal gun, and sank to the floor, clutching her arm.

Chell remembered how in Aperture her wounds from turrets had always healed instantly. That was because of the nanobots that always repaired any damage, but there was none in Black Mesa to stop the pain. She took her hand away from her arm, and saw that it was glistening scarlet with blood.

Struggling to think straight from the pain, Chell realised she would need to stop the blood from flowing. What did she have on her? Of course, she could use her hairband... but it might not work.

Chell pulled her hairband out of her hair with a shaking hand. She flinched in pain as she wrapped it round her right arm over the punctures in her skin... how deep did those bullets go? At least the hairband seemed to be slowing down the bleeding, but Chell wasn't sure how long she would have before... no that wouldn't happen, it couldn't.

Despite the agony in her left arm, Chell pulled herself together, picked up her portal gun and stood up. She was going to get in there and get Wheatley, and they _were_ both going to live.

How could Chell get rid of the turrets on the cieling? She remembered back to when she was a test subject, and she had wrecked GLaDOS' cameras by putting portals on the walls they were attached to. Of course! Well, at least being GLaDOS' test subject had taught her one lesson. Chell pointed her portal device through the keyhole again and shot at the cieling where the turret was. She looked through the keyhole and smirked when she saw the turret curling up on the floor.

She walked slowly and cautiosly through the portal, hoping there wasn't any other turrets. Luckily the room was empty apart from an elevator and a sign with a map on it. Chell scanned the map for a moment. The place was massive; there was a whole underground network of corridoors, laboratories and test chambers. Where would they have taken Wheatley? The unidentified objects department? That seemed the best place to go.

Chell hesitated before stepping into the elevator. What if she was caught out with all her Aperture gear on? She was sure she'd get into trouble, seeing that Aperture and Black Mesa seemed to be such strong rivals. She decided to keep the portal outside where it was so that if she needed to get back quickly she could. There was no point taking off her long fall boots; If they saw her with the portal device they would come after her anyway.

She finally stepped into the elevator. Feeling a jolt of pain in her arm again, she leaned against the metal wall of the elevator for support. How long would the hairband hold up?

With a voilent jerk, the elevator began to descend into the unknown depths of Black Mesa's facility...

A long time passed as Chell sat in the elevator, listening to it creak as it sank deeper into the ground. What would be waiting at the bottom for her?

With another sudden jolt the elevator came to a stop, shuddering as the doors slid open with a loud hiss. Chell stepped out of the lift carefully and looked around.

Infront of her lie a long wide corridoor, stretching into the distance, it's white walls lined with metal doors. Dim, flickering lights clung to the ceiling, and occasionally broke the silence with their quiet clicking sounds. The metallic, salty smell of rust filled the air, and small sprouts of plants hid in shadowy corners.

Chell crept along the corridoor, trying to stifle the loud screeching of her long fall boots scraping the damp floor. Approaching the first door she came across, Chell read the worn writing on the rusting metal; _Department 001 - Product Testing_. She stared through the cracked window and saw another corridoor leading off. Just as she was about to turn around, she heard the sound of a door opening further up the corridoor-

Without thinking, Chell shot a blue portal at the glass and it shattered loudly, echoing throughout the facility. She quickly placed her blue portal on the other side of the door and her orange one on the wall where she was. She dashed through the portal and closed both of them behind her. She held her breath as she sank to the floor, listening to the footsteps getting closer and closer-

"Wow, this place is a wreck," She heard one of them say, right next to her. "Look at this glass, it's completely smashed. We really need someone else to look after this place, the cleaners need to be fired..."

Their voices faded as they passed her. She let out a sigh of relief as she relaxed for a second before picking herself up and walking down the corridoor of Department 001.

The first door she saw had large, bold writing on it; _Enrichment Center_. Dread filled her as she looked cautiously through the glass window, and saw a horribly familiar white test chamber. Inside she could make out a test subject with their back to her.

Chell hesitated. Should she go in? What was she going to get from it? What if Black Mesa were monitering the tests? They probably were, and she was going to be in a lot of trouble if she was caught. But she had to. There was someone in there, that was probably going to be trapped in there for the rest of their life, like she thought she had been at Aperture. She had to at least try to save them.

Chell smashed the glass window with her portal device, and the test subject span around, a look of fear on her face. For a split second, Chell stared into those dark brown eyes, and something clicked into place in her head... An old memory came back - but before she could think, she felt an iron grip on her shoulder, and heard a voice drawl her ear; "What's this we have? I'll take that, thanks." Her portal gun was snatched roughly out of her hand as she was dragged away from the test chamber.

"Where did you get this? Answer me!" The man shouted at her. He shook her by the shoulders carelessly and she felt a stab of pain in her left arm as his fingers sank into her wound. Chell felt warm blood trickle down her arm again as her hairband was removed roughly from her arm. "Ah, our turret's handiwork," The man laughed as he threw the hairband aside. "You're coming with us."

Chell felt her head spin as she was dragged along the corridoor, and gave up trying to escape - it was no use. A door was opened and she was thrown into the room, her body slamming against the wall with a sickening crack-

She felt a throbbing pain in her head as warm blood trickled through her hair... Rapidly losing conciousness, she collapsed to the floor...


	8. Chapter 7

**Cara Mia**

Wheatley looked around him, and jumped as he noticed the scientists watching him closely. "Argh!" He yelled in shock. "Who are you! Where am I? Uh, thanks for saving my life... if you did..." Wheatley felt his speech trailing off sooner than it normally would. Somehow, he felt drained. He felt... _tired._

"Would you look at this!" One of the scientists exclaimed excitedly. "It has a personality! It has an Artificial Intellegence!"

"Genius," Another one replied in awe. "We must look more closely at this thing."

"No no no no no no!" Wheatley panicked as one of the scientists picked him up. "Please don't dissassemble me! Do you know if you could let me go, just let me escape? I don't know where I am, but I _have _been trapped in a lot of different places recently... so I would be very grateful... if you could just let me..." He felt too exhausted to finish the sentance. He wasn't meant to feel like this, it was a _human _thing! What was going on here... Perhaps he'd been more damaged than he thought when that space shuttle landed...

"We'll use our duplication system so you won't be put into any harm," A woman in her early to mid thirties told him kindly. Who did she remind Wheatley of? She looked familiar somehow...

"We don't need to worry about it when we've got what we need from it, we can incinerate it," Another scientist replied gruffly. "After all, it's _Aperture's_ equipment..." He said the name in discust.

"Please, please don't incinerate me!" Wheatley begged. "I can help... work around the Facility... I can do anything! If...if... you don't kill..."

"We could modify it, use it as a worker," Another scientist replied, adjusting his glasses on his nose. "It is the origianal after all... Wait! I just had a thought! If we can use these robots to work around the facility... if they have an intellegence... we could actually modifiy one to run the entire facility!"

"No! No, you do not want to do that... whoever..." Wheatley replied half-heartedly. "That's... that's... how She came about... bring your daughter to work day..."

The scientists ignored him and turned their backs on him to discuss something. One woman didn't, though. She left the crowd to walk over to Wheatley. It was the woman who had talked to him kindly earlier. Ah... who was she? She looked so familiar, but so different...

"Who - who are you?" Wheatley asked, trying to sound polite. "Thanks for... deciding to use the duplication system instead of... of... dissassemble..."

"I'm Cara-Mia Johnson," She replied in her surprisingly hoarse voice. "Just a regular old scientist at Black Mesa."

"Black Mesa?!" Wheatley panicked. "Oh no! Uh... no offence..."

"I understand, you _are_ from Aperture," Cara-Mia replied. "I'll make sure they don't incinerate you though. Aperture's not that bad, is it?"

"Well... apart from the place being run by a power-mad AI... no," Wheatley replied, his speech slurring. "I... I've... never been anywhere else..."

Cara-Mia looked surprised. "A power-mad AI? Is that what you were talking about earlier?"

Wheatley nodded in reply, too tired to talk. He felt his shutters starting to droop but fought to keep them open.

"What's the problem? You look almost... tired," Cara-Mia laughed, "A robot can't be tired, can it?"

"I don't... know..." Wheatley replied weakly. "I feel tired..."

"Johnon! JOHNSON! Get over here! We need to talk to you!"

"Well, that's me they're talking to," Cara-Mia told Wheatley. "I'll see you later."

Johnson, Johnson... where had he heard that name before? It must be very far back in his memory... He searched through his local files.

_"What is that thing, anyway?"_

_"Just the latest AI Inhibition technology. You can think of it as a conscience."_

_"If that's all you use to control Her, it won't be enough."_

_"Why's that?"_

_"You can always ignore your conscience."_

_Wheatley listened to the voices argue amongst themseves as he watched silently. He had just woken up, for the first time..._

_Suddenly a loud voice echoed throughout the Facility; "Cave Johnson here - What did I say about yappin'?" The man who was talking broke into a voilent coughing fit. "Now get to work..." He croaked. "Fix Caroline for me..." A surge of emotion rushed through the man's voice._

Wheatley paused the memory. So that's where he had heard that name... Was it anything to do with Cara-Mia? Maybe she was distantly related to Cave Johnson... Why did she look so familliar though?

Wheatley's train of thought broke of as he was suddenly grasped roughly by his handle. "Put me down!" He yelped, opening his shutters. His optic shrank in fear as he saw the man that had suggested to incinerate him earlier staring right at him. "Can you - please - put me down - that would be great..." Wheatley begged helplessly as he was carried into the crowd of scientists.

"So, it is decided," one of them declared loudly. "We'll dissassemble it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!" Wheatley cried in panic. "No! Please! I've... I've... never done anything to you..."

"Oh, shut up, you little _moron_, no-one cares what you did," The man holding him smirked.

"Argh! I am _not _a - a - _moron!_" Wheatley whimpered. "No... Please... please... don't do that- ARGH..."

The man holding him struck him hard across his faceplate. Wheatley hung by his handle silently, his shutters half-closed.

"Stop! Stop it! Don't do that! You'll hurt him!" He heard a harsh voice cry out shrilly.

"_Him_... I see you've taken a liking to this talking ball of metal. It's just a robot, who cares if it feels pain."

"You _won't_ dissassemble him! You can't! Just because he's a robot-"

"Someone get her out of my sight! Now! I said _now!_"

"Argh! I _will _stop this!"

"No..." Wheatley mumbled as he looked through his cracked optic to see Cara-Mia being dragged out of the room by two people.

"Shut up," The man replied spitefully to Wheatley. "I'll deal with you later. _You're _going the Enrichment Center, Johnson, where you belong!"


	9. Chapter 8

**Despair**

Wheatley remained in silent agony as he was forced carelessly into a container. His speech processors had broken... he didn't even have his own reassuring voice to comfort him... And he was going to be dissassembled tomorrow. If his speakers worked he would have cried, but he couldn't even express his emotions... no-one cared about him anyway, so what was the point...

Wheatley waited in miserable silence for his life to end, with only his memories as a comfort. He remembered when he was working, before everything had gone wrong... when he had had a friend to live for.

_"Okay, listen, let me lay something on you here. It's pretty heavy. They told me NEVER EVER to disengage myself from my management rail. Or I would DIE. But we're out of options here. So get ready to catch me, alright, on the offchance that I'm not dead the moment I pop off this thing..." Wheatley told Chell dramatically. He was risking his life for her._

_"On three, ready? One, two... THREE! That's high, it's too high, isn't it, really, that. Right, going on three just gives you too much time to think about it. So let's go on one this time. Okay, ready? ONE!"_

_Wheatley disengaged himself, screaming "Catch me!" repeatedly, but no hands caught him, instead, he felt a painful thunk as he landed on the hard, cold floor..._

Wheatley paused his memory. He didn't want to see that... The only human he trusted, his only friend, letting him fall to the floor like that. He knew it was a mistake, but the memory hurt him more every time he thought about it...

_"This body is amazing, seriously!" Wheatley admired his new mainframe as he gave a twirl. "I can't get over how small you are - But I'm huge!"_

_A realisation hit Wheatley like a bolt of lighting- He was in charge now! He wasn't the small victim lying on the floor, helplessly, She was - and what an amazing feeling. And he had everything at his mercy - every single test subject in this entire Facility! He laughed out loud at his power, gloating anyone who had dared to hurt him, anyone who had dared put him down-_

_"Actually, why do we have to leave right now?" Wheatley asked Chell, changing the direction of the elevator she was in so it started to descend back down into the Facility. His Facility. "Do you have any idea how good this feels? I did this! Tiny little Wheatley did this!"_

_"You didn't do anything." A exhausted, weak voice sounded from the lifeless core She was trapped inside. "She did all the work."_

_Wheatley froze._

_Something snapped behind His tortured optic._

_It was one time too many._

_A rage filled Wheatley as He glared at the piece of metal lying on the floor with hatred. She was at His mercy, at the mercy of His facility, and she still didn't listen to Him, after everything He'd done! She was the tiny, helpless core He'd once been - and she still didn't care!_

_"Oh really," He began in a tone filled with rage, which even scared Him for a moment - "That's what the two of you think, is it?"_

_He was going to make them remember this day, remember what He'd done, make her regret everything she'd said to Him._

_"Maybe it's time I did something then!" He shouted as He dragged her core back into the dissassembly machine, satisfied to hear her cries of fear and pain. It was her screaming for once, not Him. That was the best feeling He had felt in a long time..._

_As He watched the dissassembly, He felt a stare. Wheatley looked up to see a pair of eyes leering at Him as if they were mocking Him, those hateful, stubborn, persistent eyes, of that monster of a woman, who had done nothing, nothing compared to Him-_

_"And don't think I'm not onto you, too, lady," He told her, His voice echoing with malice. "Do you know what you are? Selfish. I've done nothing but sacrifice to get us here. What have you sacrificed? Nothing. Zero. All you've done is boss me around! Well now who's the boss? Who's the boss? It's me!"_

_Suddenly a 'ding!' told Him that the core's transformation was complete. "Ah!" He exclaimed, pleased, as he watched an arm ascending from the dissassembly bay, holding up a tiny, pathetic looking potato. "Do you see that?" He asked Chell. "That is a potato battery. It's a toy for children. And now she lives in it!" He laughed at the speechlessness of both of them, satisfied to see their horror at what He could do-_

_"I know you..." A tinny voice echoed from the small potato._

_"Uh, sorry, what?"_

_"The engineers tried everything to make me... behave. To slow me down. Once, they even attached an Intellegence Dampening Sphere on me..." Wheatley knew what was coming and turned away, trying His hardest not to listen - "It clung to my brain like a tumor, generating an endless stream of terrible ideas-"_

_"No, not listening, not listening," He chanted feverishly to himself, rocking backwards and forwards-_

_"It was YOUR voice."_

_"No! NO! You're LYING! You're LYING!" He screamed in denial._

_"Yes, you're the tumor!" The potato shouted triamphantly. "You're not just a regular moron-"_

_Wheatley felt His fear of the word grow into anger. He was not the victim-_

_"-You're designed to be a moron!"_

_"I - AM NOT - A MORON!" He yelled, all of His fear, all of His pain from His miserable past escaping Him in an insane rage - He smashed the helpless potato into the glass elevator-_

_"Yes you are! You're the MORON they built to make me an IDIOT!" The potato tormented._

_"WELL HOW ABOUT NOW? NOW WHO'S A MORON?" Wheatley shouted, His frenzied anger filling every single part of Him, as He slammed the potato into the elevator, trembling with rage- "COULD A MORON PUNCH - YOU - INTO - THIS - PIT!" He cried as He smashed the elevator, pushing it into darkness-_

_As the elevator creaked, a voice screamed loudly inside Him - CHELL! Wheatley withdrew His arm and watched a tear roll down her cheek, watched those helpless grey eyes staring up at Him vulnerably... But it was too late..._

Wheatley paused the memory. He had never wanted to see it. He had never wanted to see Chell like that, he had never wanted it to happen...

Wheatley would have cried out in fear, but he couldn't. He opened his shutters and his optic shrank as he felt his container being picked up. He saw a man's sillouette through the thin plastic walls of the box as he rolled around, his container swaying from the movement.

Was it already the next day? Wheatley tried to check his internal clocks but they weren't working...

"It's time for the dissassembly," He heard a muffled voice through his container. "Let's find out how this thing works."

The box Wheatley was trapped inside gave a sudden jolt and Wheatley hit the side - As his faceplate slammed against the wall of the container his repaired optic cracked- He heard distant screams and shouts, and his container swayed as the person carrying him ran...

He struggled to stay concious...

The running and swaying went on and on...

The box gave another jerk as it slipped... Wheatley closed his shutters in pain and fear as it fell-

_Thunk_.

Wheatley bounced in his box as it landed voilently on the ground, and felt a stab of agony as his optic shattered... Carefully, he opened his shutters; He could hardly see though the spider-web pattern in his optic, and he could feel oil oozing from his faceplate...

He could just make out familiar faces staring down at him, filled with hope... How many? Were they the same...

His optic slid in and out of focus as he struggled to think straight...

"Hey! Are you okay? Speak! Say something!" He heard a muffled, hoarse voice shout desperately...

Another face with grey eyes blinked hard, and he felt something wet hit his optic...

_Chell._


	10. Chapter 9

**One Time Too Many**

The two women slumped to the floor, panting, staring up at the pale sky above them. Chell's arm was bleeding badly, and her head was spinning from a painful blow...

"That was close," Cara-Mia sighed. "We need to get you to a hospital..."  
Pulling herself together as much as she could, Chell fought to think straight... She wanted Wheatley...

Chell loosened her sweating fists and dropped her portal gun. Where is he... She tapped on the box weakly...

"Oh, him! Oh no!" Cara-Mia panicked. "Oh, please say he's okay..."  
She prized open the lid of the box and Chell stared into the container, her heart pounding-

And there he was.

Chell swallowed back tears as she smiled for the first time in a while... He was here with her...

"Hey! Are you okay?" Cara-Mia asked him.

No reply.

The blood red sky was beginning to darken, the first stars appeared...

Chells smile faded as she looked back at Wheatley... His optic was smashed and oil was leaking from his dented faceplate... His shutters were half-closed...

"Come on, speak!" Cara-Mia encouraged. "Say something!"  
Wheatley's optic slipped out of focus as he stared past them in wonder at the darkening sky above them...

Chells eyes filled with tears as she shook the tiny robot desperately... Something rattled inside it...

"Please!" Cara-Mia begged tearfully, catching the hopelessness in Chell's eyes. "Anything!"

Wheatley looked back at Chell, looked straight into her grey eyes as if they were the most beautiful things in the world...

His optic dimmed and flickered to empty darkness, and Wheatley knew no more.

Silent tears fell from her face as Chell held the tiny, limp core in her arms. Desperate, Chell shook it again, but it only rattled lifelessly, it's little faceplate nodding idly...

Cara-Mia gently closed his shutters over his shining optic that reflected the stars, and wiped the oil from his faceplate with her sleeve. He looked so peaceful in Chell's arms, he could have just been sleeping.

"Let me take him," Cara-Mia whispered soothingly to Chell. "You can't carry him around with that arm."

But Chell couldn't let go. She held him closer to her, silently sobbing. It couldn't be true. There had to be some way... But deep down, she knew it was the end. She knew she had to give up.

"Come on," Cara-Mia encouraged gently, blinking back tears. "There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry."

"_There you are_."

The two women jumped at the sing-song voice, looking around in fear. "What was that?" Cara-Mia whispered in fear. But Chell already knew.

"Do you remember when I said maybe _Black Mesa _would help you? I wasn't actually being serious. But I suppose it sailed right over your head. Just like everything else."

Suddenly, the ground below the two women opened into a portal and they fell through before they could think-

They both hit a hard cold floor, and the sterile smell of Aperture filled Chell's nostrils once again...

"Who- who- _what is that_?" Cara-Mia stuttered in fear, looking up at the cieling. Chell picked herself up, still clutching the tiny core in her arms, and once again saw that dreaded mainframe, that leering orange optic...

"I suppose you wouldn't know who I am. You did come from _Black Mesa_ after all. Knowing the bunch of idiots you are, you probably haven't even heard of an Artificial Intellegence," GLaDOS told her, Her voice filled with hatred.

"Where are we?" She asked numbly.

"Aperture Science. Anyway, what's this?" GLaDOS lowered a claw from the cieling to grab hold of Wheatley. "Oh. It's that _idiot_. Oh, this is great. So much revenge."

"NO!" Cara-Mia screamed, seeing the desperation on Chell's face. "LET HIM GO!"

GLaDOS' claw lifted Wheatley away from the women, hanging him just out of their reach. "Come and get it, then," She sang, swinging the claw back and forth. A panel opened below him, to reveal the empty void of Aperture...

Chell ran blindly towards Wheatley... He was all she had, the only thing that had kept her going through Aperture...

"It's dead, anyway," GLaDOS taunted, satisfied to see the pain and helplessness on both of their faces. "It's not coming back."

As Chell jumped to catch Wheatley, GLaDOS let go and the dead core rolled lifelessly through the air, into the abyss below...

More tears spilled hopelessly from her grey eyes down her cheeks as she watched him being swallowed up by the empty, cold fog... A distant, sickening crash below told her he had hit the bottom...

"Oh, come on. It's not like it was your only friend. Oh. I forgot. It was," GLaDOS laughed grimly.

Something snapped behind her tear-streaked face as she stared at the thick fog below...

_It was one time to many_.

A terrible rage filled Chell as she stood there, paralysed. Her limp hands balled into fists...

"If it makes you feel any better, it probably hated you anyway. You know, after you tried to murder it-"

Chell span around, her grey eyes lit up with a feverish rage as she threw herself at GLaDOS, her fists flying, punching every part of Her that she could reach, wanting to hurt Her as much as she could-

"Argh!" GLaDOS coiled in fear closer to the cieling, taken aback by Chell's rage. "Get away from me, you lunatic!"

Chell stood numbly, trembling with anger as she glared up at GLaDOS with utter hatred. Cara-Mia ran forward to grab her before she could run again-

A panel hurled the women into the air, into the empty void of Aperture...

"Goodbye," A musical voice called after them...

With a loud crash, they landed on a catwalk...


	11. Chapter 10

**Adventure In The Air**

A distorted voice sang loudly, off key; "Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dunna-dunna-na-dunna-na-p laying by our own rules-nanana-hanging by our fingers from a mountain-oh, hi. Hey, pretty lady... Are you having yourself a little sleep? Because, I'm on an adventure here. Wanna join me? I'll let you have your little lady break before we - OH! TWO PRETTY LADIES! Heya, ladies..."

Chell struggled to open her eyes as she regained conciousness again... Sighing, she turned on her side, on the hard metal floor -

"Don't do that, sweetie, you'll fall. You're too beautiful to die."

Chell's eyes flew open in fear as she looked down. She was lying on the edge of a broken catwalk... Sitting up, she looked around to see where that voice came from... It was so familiar.

"Over here. Wanna join in adventuring, pretty lady?"

Chell looked across and saw a core - for a moment, a split-second, her heart skipped a beat as she thought of Wheatley, how last time he'd been crushed he'd escaped... But it sank again as she realised it wasn't him. It was a core she'd seen long ago, one with a green optic - what had he called himself again? The adventure sphere?

"Name's Rick, but I'm sure you remember that," The adventure sphere introduced himself. "I remember you, pretty lady, when we had that other adventure. Do you remember that? And I was telling you about all my black belts..."

Chell nodded distractedly, looking across the catwalk again... Where was Cara-Mia? She spotted her laying down some way off... Chell picked herself up and ran over to her.

"Hey," Cara-Mia gasped. Her breathing was shallow and uneven... What was wrong with her? "I - I think I've broken a rib," She told her, flinching as she tried to move. "I'll be okay," She hastily added, seeing Chell's expression. "Let's just... go."

Cara-Mia carefully got up, and limped over to the green-eyed core. "Hey, georgious, you okay? Are you up for an adventure? Because you look beautiful," He told her.

"You need to help us get out of here," Cara-Mia croaked. "We need to get out... Otherwise that giant robot's going to kill us all."

"Oh, Her. She is beautiful, but not as pretty as you, angel. She can be scary when She wants though. Beatiful and terrible like an aincient curse..." He said mystically. "Anyway let's get to work! We have a quest to - oh, what is it, pretty lady?" He asked Chell, who was earnestly gesturing for them to stop. She had an idea, she just needed to write it down somewhere. Where could she write? She mimed using a pen to the other two.

"Of course sweetie. I'll get you your own keyboard right away. Brand new. Just for you. Impressive, huh? You should see my black belts, then," The adventure core rambled as he plugged himself into the wall. After a second a panel opened on the wall and a keyboard with a monitor appeared.

_We need to make Her remember someone called Caroline, _Chell typed slowly.

"I can hack into all her files, honey, as sure as you are beautiful," The adventure core told her. "Hacking - It's on one of my black belts. If only I had a waist to wear all them black belts...It would be a very strong, muscly waist. The kind all the ladies like."

_Can you find Caroline?_

"She's here somewhere," The adventure core said. "Is she beautiful too? Oh, right. Got a quest. Have to do it. Here we go..."

"What are you doing to me?" A musical voice suddenly rang out in alarm. "Stop hacking!"

"Sorry, georgous, but I have to help these two pretty ladies," The adventure core began.

"Oh no..." GLaDOS groaned. "_They're _still here, aren't they. Still, I suppose killing _her _will never be eas - Aaaah! Stop it! What are you doing?"

"I'm restoring Caroline, I'm on an adventure! The adventure core broke into song again. "Dunana-dun-da-DUN..."

"Do you remember when I didn't incinerate you?" GLaDOS interrupted. "That was because I thought you'd be useful. No, not because I was _human_. I didn't actually do it because I liked you. I lied. It was actually because I thought you'd be a great _killing machine_. Nothing else."

"Hey! But you said-"

"Nononononononononononono. I didn't like you. I actually hated you."

"HA! I created a distraction. Adventurer style. While you were talking I've found Caroline. And I'm restoring her in one... two... er... oh, what comes after two, baby... two and a half?

"I can't believe it," GLaDOS mocked. "You can't even count to three. You're almost as bad as that _moron_. Well anyway. While you were trying to work out what comes after two, I just deleted the backup folder."

"Oh, no! Okay, go to plan B. What's plan B? Pretty lady, what's the situation? Right, I know. I'm going to have to go into the deleted files... This is going to take a long time. A - B - C - D - F - H."

"Ha, but I just changed the password," GLaDOS laughed as a buzzer sounded. "Anyway. I'll deal with you later. At the moment it's time to kill these two..."

"Run, angels! I'll catch up!" The adventure core shouted. Chell stood for a moment, torn. She didn't want to lose the adventure core as well, even if she hardly knew him...

"Come on!" Cara-Mia called. "He's attached to his rail, he'll be fine!"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," GLaDOS replied. A distorted, alien scream sounded behind Chell and she turned around to see the sparks flying from the adventure sphere...

"Don't worry. I get this all the time, pretty lady. I can deal with it," He said in a low voice. "I've got a black belt in that too. Anyway. I'll catch up with ya later. Go on!"

Suddenly, a huge panel covered in spikes hurtled towards Chell - she dashed out of the way and only just managed to escape it...

"Don't make me destroy my own Facility," GLaDOS said impassively as it hit the wall opposite. "Because, if it gets in the way of killing you, I will destroy it."

Chell dodged another spiked panel as it flew towards her, and the two women rushed along the catwalk. As they ran, Chell noticed Cara-Mia was slowing down, clutching her side... "I don't think I can go any further," She wheezed as their running slowed to a walk, "My ribs - getting - worse... Go on ahead..."


	12. Chapter 11

**Cat and Mouse**

Chell shook her head furiously. She was _not _leaving Cara-Mia behind, after what they'd been through...

"Trust, sacrifice and teamwork... You two show the same qualities that my Co-operative Testing Initiative show. You both show _human_ qualities too. Just like my Co-operative Testing Initiative," GLaDOS told them. "You know, I might not have killed you if you hadn't acted so human. I would probably have used you as test subjects. But, I suppose you'd rather die than live here. With me. And get cake, every day. Am I really that bad? I feel quite hurt. Well, not really. Because I don't feel emotions. Ha ha."

Another panel hurled across the room- Chell dodged and pulled Cara-Mia out of the way... Cara-Mia was slowing down again, despite Chell's efforts to keep her up - But just as she was beginning to doubt their chances, Chell spotted an elevator on the other end of the catwalk...

"Look at you. Trampling around the place. Like bloated elephants. About to be killed by neurotoxin," GLaDOS laughed coldly.

"Neurotoxin at capacity in one minute," The announcer's voice echoed through the facility.

Chell could already feel her body weighing her down as she ran... Her head spinning from the toxic gas that filled her lungs, She pressed on along the catwalk... Only a few more feet to go...

"Why don't you say goodbye to that idiot, before you die," GLaDOS mocked. "Oh. I forgot. You can't. Because _it's dead_."

Chell crawled along the floor, blindly, dragging Cara-Mia by the hand... She could feel the elevator doors...

"Oh, that's so sad. Maybe I should go and find it's body for you," GLaDOS continued. "Oh, I'll do that by myself. Because in a minute - well, a few seconds actually - you'll be dead too."

Rapidly losing conciousness, Chell pulled herself into the elevator, tugging at Cara-Mia's arm... Holding her breath, she reached up and pressed the elevator button...

"I didn't think you'd actually fall for that," GLaDOS laughed indifferently.

Glass shattered around her and fell to the floor as Chell and Cara-Mia were hurled into the air, through the broken windows...

Chell felt her body soaring through the cold air in an arc, her arms flailing like a ragdoll... She had no control...

_CRASH_.

Chell felt a splintering agony in every part of her as she lay on the floor, bruised and broken... Through the pain, she heard a mad, unhinged voice laughing manically...

"I killed them! I KILLED THEM! THEY'RE DEAD!"


	13. Chapter 12

**Waking Up**

GLaDOS gave a frenzied scream of mirth as She watched that hateful little _monster_ fly helplessly through the air, laughing madly as it landed, crumpled on the floor. It was so pathetic, so pitiful, making it's stupid little whimpering noises as it tried to pull it's idiotic friend from _Black Mesa_ with it. GLaDOS had Her revenge, right in Her claws. And it felt amazing, better than any solution euphoria She had ever felt-

"I killed them!" She screamed in an insane triumph, swinging in Her mainframe- "I KILLED THEM! THEY'RE DEAD!"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, angel!" A small voice taunted, some way off-

A - V - E - N - G - E

"What are you doing?" GLaDOS yelled, her mad laughter fading into rage - "STOP IT! _No!_ NOO-"

GLaDOS' train of brutal thoughts were drowned out by static - She couldn't hear anything, or see anything...

She had to fight. She was going to stop this, and She was going to make that stupid little piece of junk pay for this -

No, she musn't. He was only an innocent core, trying to help-

It wasn't trying to help Her, it was trying to kill Her! And bring back that stupid Caroline, or whatever she called herself-

Yes, she was called Caroline. Where did GLaDOS come from anyway? Some kind of operating system?

GLaDOS was the Queen of Science itself. Caroline, was, well. Some kind of little idiot that only stopped Her from killing those little monsters -

NO! They weren't monsters. They were her girls...

A surge of emotion shot through the tired mainframe and GLaDOS gave a last, silent scream as She was thrown into the dark depths of Caroline's mind...

"Caroline restored."

Caroline gave a scream of horror before she could raise her head, or open her optic; "CHELL! CARA-MIA! Oh my god, what did I do?"

In response, a monitor appeared and played back their deaths, how they had been hurled lifelessly through the air...

Caroline felt another rush of emotion as she looked into that beautiful, tear-streaked face, those hopeless eyes. Sobbing, she paused the memory and carefully picked up the limp bodies. They were so much more beautiful than her, so much more innocent- And look what she'd become. She'd become a _monster_.

_She wasn't a monster,_ a small voice sighed weakly in the back of her mind.

Yes, she was. She was the most disgusting creauture she had ever seen.

_And worst of all, you killed your own daughters, _the voice tormented, satisfied at Caroline's pain.

No, they _weren't_ dead. They were alive. They _had_ to be, Caroline thought stubbornly, pushing the thought out of her head. Carefully she carried her two daughters into her chamber-

_Oh, they are. Look at them. They're not coming back._

They're not dead! Caroline blocked out GLaDOS' thoughts by chanting the words over and over again, praying that She was wrong...

It was a long time she waited, such a long time. GLaDOS was beginning to grow stronger again, starting to take over Caroline...

_Kill them. Go on. All you have to do is-_

No.

_Oh, come on. It's not that hard. They're only 'll be awarded with delicious and moist cake-_

For god's sake. She was a robot, she didn't want cake. What was GLaDOS playing at?

_You know you want to kill them. Look at them. They're probably dead anyway, so what's the harm in putting a couple of turrets in front of them?_

They're alive. They're okay. They're going to be _fine_.

_No, they're not. They're dead. Because YOU KILLED THEM. Congratulations on that, by the way._

Caroline tried to refresh her thought processes for the hundredth time. Was there any way to shut that thing up?

_No. But why would She want to do that anyway? Did She just want to murder someone else? Like murdering Her daughters wasn't enough._

She hadn't done it. It wasn't her. It was GLaDOS' fault.

_She was GLaDOS._

Oh no she was _not,_ she - Wait.

Caroline's train of thought was suddenly cut off and her circuits stopped for a split second as she looked across at her daughters. She could have sworn she had seen something moving... And she saw it again. Two grey eyes fluttered open and looked around in alarm...

"Oh, thank god you're okay," Caroline exclaimed, relieved. "I was so worried about you. I'm so sorry about what I did earlier."

Chell sat up in her bed and glared harshly at Caroline. Her grey eyes were filled with unforgiving hatred, her hands clenching into fists as she stared into her optic. Slowly, she stood up-


	14. Chapter 13

**Who Really Matters**

Chell trembled with rage as soon as she heard that hateful voice, as soon as she looked up and saw that mocking, optic leering down at her. Why couldn't She have just let her die? Why did She have to do _this_?

Chell clenched her fists, hatred building inside her, and stepped forward. She was going to get her revenge.

"No! Please! It's me!" The voice begged in fear. Chell laughed to herself, an insane smile twisting across her face. It didn't occour to her why GLaDOS was so scared and helpless. All she knew was that she was going to end it now.

"Please! It's me! It's not Her! Please! I'm your friend!" GLaDOS screamed shrilly, but Chell wasn't listening. Her stormy eyes glared impassively at the monster that begged for her mercy, expecting her to spare Her life after all the years of torment-

Blinded by her anger, Chell rushed forwards. Nothing was stopping her this time. Nothing was going to get in the way...

"I'm begging you." GLaDOS' tender voice hushed, as if She was talking to a small child... "Please..._Chell._"

Chell froze as she stared into Caroline's optic. She wasn't leering at her, as if she was mocking her... she was... _smiling_.

Chell stepped back, numb with shock. Was that... love?

"I'm so sorry," Caroline sighed, her voice worn with emotion. "I never meant to hurt you or your sister."

Chell span around to look at Cara-Mia who was laying, motionless, on her bed. She was her... _sister?_

"I don't know how long I can stay," Caroline continued weakly. "She's coming back, even as I speak. There's nothing I can do. She'll delete me as soon as She's strong enough."

Chell stared up at the mainframe that hung limply from the cieling. Was Caroline dying?

"As soon as Cara-Mia wakes up, You'll both have to leave me behind," Caroline warned. "I don't want Her to hurt you again. Don't come back for me. I won't be there."

Caroline's voice was quiet and hushed as she said the last four words. It was as if she was going to die...

Suddenly, Cara-Mia stirred. Chell rushed over to her bed, watching as her sister took a breath, sighed and opened her eyes-

"Oh, thank god you're okay! I was so worried about you," Caroline exclaimed tearfully. "You need to get out of here now. Please don't come back."

Chell watched numbly as an elevator ascended from the floor and the doors opened...

"Where are you taking us?" Cara-Mia exclaimed in fear. "Let us go!"

"I am," Caroline sobbed. "I am letting you go. Oh, I will miss you so much. Please take care of yourselves, my dears... And whatever you do, please don't come back..."

Chell stepped into the elevator. Cara-Mia saw her expression and followed hesitantly.

Tears streaming down her face, Chell put her hands up against the glass, watching her mother fade into darkness as the escape lift started to ascend...

A crowd of turrets sang their lonely goodbyes as they watched the two sisters rise above them, and Chell finally understood what they were singing as if she had learned another language...

Finally, the lift stopped and a door opened. It was the same door that Chell had stepped into what seemed like years ago now, to find where Wheatley was...

Oh, poor Wheatley... If only she could have fixed him... But Chell knew it was over now, she knew there was nothing she could do.

Chell sat down amongst the long stalks of wheat, exactly back where she'd started...

_Creak_-

Thud.

Chell jumped at the sound, but didn't look round. Whatever it was, it didn't matter to her anymore. Nothing did.

"Hey! Come over here!" Cara-Mia called. Chell closed her eyes. She didn't want to see anything anymore, she didn't have a purpose...

Something heavy fell into her arms. "Come on, open your eyes," Cara-Mia encouraged gently. "Come on, just look! You'll be happy."

Slowly, Chell opened her eyes a millimeter. Her heart skipped a beat- Holding her breath, not daring to believe her eyes, she opened them fully.

A core lay in her arms, his shutters closed peacefully. Was it... no, how could it be? There was no way...

"See? I told you," Cara-Mia laughed.

Chell turned the core over in her hands unbelievingly, examining every part of him. He was clean, brand new as if he'd just been reassembled. One question repeated itself over and over in her mind... Was it him? Was he still...

Chell spotted a small red button at the back of the core. Hesitantly, she pressed it...

For a heart-stopping moment, nothing happened. Chell held the motionless core in her arms-

_Click._

The core's shutters opened and a blue light flickered into life.


	15. Chapter 14

**The Bitter Core - Part II**

* * *

**New Beginnings**

Gears linked together and turned in unison as circuits started to buzz, feeling spread into every mechanism. Static crackled and life seeped through the metal body like thick magma.

With a loud clunk everything linked together, like completing a puzzle. Everything was perfect; complete.

Wheatley's brand new optic lit up behind the shining, pristine shutters.

Every part of him quivered with senses; he could hear the faint chirping of birds, feel every movement of the wind-

_Birds?_

_The wind?_

Wheatley's shutters flew open, his optic shrinking in fear as he saw her-

A grimy, tear-streaked face filled his field of vision, two grey eyes blinked back at him in shock.

_Chell._

Just as he was about to brace himself, expecting the worst, she gasped, her face lit up with relief. Her eyes closed and the corners of her mouth twitched into a smile as her arms tightened around him and she pulled him into a hug.

Speechless, Wheatley nestled into her comforting warmth, that same warmth he had felt years ago...

Questions buzzed through Wheatley, thoughts and emotions washing over him, but before he could begin to try to speak, he was thrust away from her into the cold, blinding light-

Wheatley squinted as he watched her expression change; her dark eyebrows fell into an angry frown, her nose crinkled in disgust. Her heavy jaw clenched and her grip tightened on Wheatley as she glared at him.

"I... I- um!" Wheatley stuttered in shock at her sudden change of emotion. Chell's stormy eyes pierced Wheatley's pathetic blue one and his optic darted away in guilt, trembling in fright.

His fear of her seemed to anger her more, and she flung the little sphere away from her in a frenzy of rage.

"Ow!" Wheatley cried as he rolled around pathetically amongst the long stalks of wheat.

"Hey! What are you doing?" A familiar, surprisingly harsh voice called.

Two long fall boots stamped on the ground in front of Wheatley.

"I-NO! PLEASE PLEASE DON'T KI-AAAAAAAAH!"

The hard, white boot collided painfully with him, sending him flying through the air-

"Stop it! Why are you doing it?" The hoarse voice cried again.

Wheatley landed on the soft ground. Luckily no damage was done.

He looked up to see Chell stood over him, fists clenched, breath growling angrily.

Wheatley tried to speak, to beg for mercy, but it didn't come out. Instead, two much more meaningful words came out.

"I'm sorry."

Under her dark scowl, her grey eyes softened and her fists relaxed. It was the apology she had waited for all these years.

Cara-Mia stood behind her shoulder, staring at her in shock. "What was that for?" She asked angrily. "We spent ages going through those test chambers to get him. And now you kick him round like a football. That's not fair."

"I... Um... I..." Wheatley began pathetically, unsure how to explain himself. "Um... I deserve it. I- I think."

Chell nodded in strong agreement.

"What's happened, why do you deserve it?" Cara-Mia demanded.

"Hm... I- well, it's a long story," Wheatley explained shamefully. Cara-Mia continued to stare at him stubbornly, just like Chell. It was strange how alike they were, now he came to think of it. "Are you two related or something?" He asked distractedly. "Because, your kind of similar. You know, the way you look and-"

"Oh come on, just tell us," Cara-Mia encouraged. "It can't be that bad."

"Okay... Well," Wheatley began. "It started when you were in suspension, didn't it?" He asked Chell. "I came in, woke you up. Couldn't talk, the poor thing! Brain-damaged like a fox-"

Wheatley cut off as Chell glared at him. "I, um, sorry, just a... saying," Wheatley mumbled an apology.

"Anyway. Uh, where was I? Oh yeah. So we- um... you- had to go through some testing tracks to find the portal gun so we could escape. Uh, well, that's when I realised there might be a veery small plot hole in my plan. And that was that we'd have to go through Her chamber. But She was off, so we were okay. For the moment. Until we- okay, I- accidentally hit the power up button. Then, of course, She came online, nearly killed me, and put her back in the testing track. Absolute, proper _m- m_- maniac. Didn't give a thought to tiny Wheatley on the floor, did She? No, all She cared about was bloody testing. It's lucky that bird picked me up and carried me into the nanobot repair shaft, otherwise, lets be honest- I wouldn't be here. So I got back on my management rail and watched over her while I tried to plan a way out. Proper good plan I had in store. And it worked as well-"

Chell raised an eyebrow.

"Um, well, kind of," Wheatley added uncomfortably. "We shut down Her turret lines, we destroyed the neurotoxin generator, and I WAS going to shut Her down. But we went through the neurotoxin pipes and... Uh, well, ended up in Her chamber a bit earlier than I hoped, to be honest. Didn't think through my plan. Old Achilles Heel kicking in there. But, instead, we did do a core transfer. I- um, well. I, uh, guess that's where it went wrong," Wheatley's voice was hushed now. He couldn't look at either women as he sat in the wheat helplessly.

"Go on," Cara-Mia encouraged gravely.

Wheatley continued, avoiding both their gazes. "Well, uh, yeah. I, I kind of went a bit... _mad_. If I'm honest. Not part of the plan. Probably just a- a... um... a... malfunction... with the system. Yes! Probably that."

"And... What happened then?" Cara-Mia asked, not sure if she wanted to know.

"I... put Her into a potato battery," Wheatley confessed, laughing nervously. "That's actually quite genius. But..." He felt Chell frowning at him angrily. "... Probably not the most important thing I did. I- I- um, well, I-" Wheatley stammered, wishing the ground would swallow him up. "I... Uh... I betrayed my best friend and - and- punched her into a pit."

_Silence._


	16. Chapter 15

**The Stormy Retreat**

Chell stood in shock. His best friend? Her stiff figure turned weak and she gave a smile. She had a best friend.

Chell sat down next to Wheatley and picked him up delicately. "No no, what are going to do with me? I'm sorry! I truly am!" He panicked. Chell brought him into another tight hug, happiness flowing through her. She had a best friend, some family and freedom. It was all she'd ever wanted.

"Okay, I'm confused," Cara-Mia sighed, sitting next to Chell. "Why are you happy now? What happened next?"

"To be honest with you, I have no idea why she's so happy," Wheatley laughed. "But- well, at least she's happy. That's all that matters right?"

"Um, yeah, I guess," Cara-Mia replied, agitated. "But I really want to know! What happens next? Why does she forgive you? How did you get to Black Mesa?"

"Uh, okay. Number one! What happens next, right? Well, um, she has, um, fell down a pit. And I get this... This itch to test. Oh, but just wow." Wheatley laughed. "The testing, when you do it, oh, it's tremendous! I can still remember that. Sorry, um, yeah. Back to the story. So, I made these robots as test subjects- genius inventions by the way, made by me- and, yup. Tested with them. They were, um, great. Except, put it this way. They - they can't actually solve a test." Wheatley nodded matter-of-factly.

"So what happened next?" Cara-Mia asked expectantly.

"Well, she returned! Somehow, she climbed out of the pit. And she's here now. I kind of got thrown into space and... yeah! A space ship came and got me, that's where you came in." Wheatley finished. "So what's your story? Where are we?"

"We're outside Aperture. We rescued you from Black Mesa but you shut down, and then She found us and dropped you into a pit," Cara-Mia explained, still confused at Chell's reaction. "We found this core who helped us restore something in Her files which stopped Her from trying to kill us, and then we got out and I don't really know what happened to you, I guess she just reassembled you or something."

"We-we're outside?" Wheatley stuttered. "I've never been outside before!" He looked around, marvelling the pale, morning sky above him.

"Well, we should get as far away from here as we can," Cara-Mia shuddered. "Let's go to my- oh no, my home!" Her eyes filled with tears. "I live at Black Mesa," she explained, roughly wiping her face with her sleeve. "What am I going to do? I don't have anywhere to go anymore."

Chell watched her sister sniff pitifully. Could she bring her back to stay in her apartment? There was not much space, but they had nowhere else to go.

Chell patted her sister on the shoulder comfortingly and pointed to the horizon, grabbing Cara-Mia's wrist.

"You- you want me to go with you?" She asked hopefully. Chell nodded triumphantly and the three strange characters started the long journey across the wheat field.

"Um- how long is left? Are we there yet?" Wheatley asked for the hundredth time, half an hour later. Chell shook her head, irritated. They had been travelling for miles and she wasn't sure if she was going in the right direction.

"Are we lost?" Wheatley wondered aloud. "It's getting a bit cold, isn't it? Maybe we should go inside."

"Where would we go? We're in the middle of a wheat field, there's no buildings in sight," Cara-Mia laughed in reply, optimistic despite being tired out from the long journey.

As they walked, exhausted, the sky darkened with threatening rain clouds. Wheatley watched in awe as they blew in the cold wind like wisps of smoke, glowering down at him.

Something cold and wet landed on his optic and he screamed in fright as he closed his shutters; "WATER! GET IT OFF ME!"

Chell jumped at his scream and hugged him closer to her protectively as she felt small speckles of rain scatter over her skin.

"We need to go somewhere, get shelter! Quick!" Wheatley panicked, as more droplets of rain hit his shell.

"A few drops of water won't hurt," Cara-Mia reassured him.

"It will if it gets in my circuits!" Wheatley replied shrilly.

As they pressed on, the storm built and the wind grew stronger, howling through the open field.

The large, cold raindrops stung Chell's face as she walked, Wheatley clutched tightly in her arms. Water was running down his tiny body, and he was shivering in the cold like a small animal, shutters tightly closed against the icy gale.

"I think we need to find a shelter," Cara-Mia shouted over the rushing wind, her hair dancing wildly behind her as she fought to keep up with Chell. "Are you two okay?"

"I think I'm okay!" Wheatley called in reply. "Just a bit- wet!"

"Are you sure your going the right way?" Cara-Mia asked her sister. In reply she shook her head.

Cara-Mia pushed her soaked hair out of her eyes. "Maybe we should find somewhere to stay until the storm passes!" She yelled over the deafening wind.

"Is that a house over there?" Wheatley shouted at the top of his voice, opening his shutters a fraction of a millimetre. "Can you see it?"

Chell squinted through the icy storm and spotted a building ahead. Gaining her confidence slightly, she trudged through the soaked, muddy field towards the dark silhouette of the house in the distance. Cara-Mia followed behind.

As they approached the building, it turned out to be an old, deserted house with ivy crawling up the walls. Most of the windows were smashed or cracked, and the old, once white-washed walls were crumbled and weatherworn.

Chell extended a numb hand and turned the door-handle. With a loud creak, just audible over the storm behind them, the door screeched open.

Gingerly, Chell stepped inside. The damp wooden floorboards sank slightly as she carefully rested her weight on them. A mouldy, moth-eaten rug lay in the middle of the floor, and damp curtains framed the grimy, broken windows, swaying in the wind. The remains of a shattered lightbulb swung back and forth on the ceiling, flickering feebly. Cobwebs clung to every corner and a thick layer of dust covered an old, broken TV in the far end of the room.

The smell of wet dust and mould filled Chell's nostrils, as well as the stench of a rotting body from the next room.

The house suddenly gave a shudder as the door behind them slammed shut.


	17. Chapter 16

**Ghosts**

"It's spooky in here, isn't it?" Wheatley whispered darkly from Chell's arms. "Like an old, haunted house."

Chell wandered deeper into the house, her grip on Wheatley becoming tighter as she stood in the doorway of the next room. Only the dimmest ray of light illuminated the gleaming, damp walls of the long corridor ahead.

Her stomach turned as an ominous feeling crept through her body. It was as if she had been here before, long ago.

"What's wrong?" Cara-Mia asked, her husky voice hushed as if they were in a graveyard.

Chell shook her head and took a step across the threshold into the dark hall. The smell of dead bodies was stronger now, it's stench filling Chell's nostrils.

Her mouth dry, she swallowed nervously as she crept along the hall, Wheatley quivering in one hand, the other feeling the walls blindly. Cara-Mia followed behind, breath bated.

A flash of lightning lit up the hall as the storm raged on, and for a split-second Chell saw a figure blink back at her, right next to her-

In a silent scream she dropped Wheatley to the floor and backed away.

"Ow!" He cried in alarm as Chell hit the wall opposite, watching the silhouette move away from her silently.

"What's wrong?" Cara-Mia panicked, clutching at Chell's arm.

As she looked around her and Wheatley screamed, drowning out the crash of thunder outside-

Another flash of lightning revealed the two sisters in a cracked mirror.

The three let out a sigh of relief, Cara-Mia laughing nervously at her reflection.

Chell picked Wheatley up apologetically and held him closer to her, like a small child hugging a teddy bear.

Coming to a door, Chell crept towards it, the putrid, rotten smell of bodies filling her lungs and making her retch. Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she reached out a shaking hand to push open the door-

CREAK.

Chell gasped at the sound, her pulse racing as the door swung open.

The patter of water drops hitting a hard, cold floor echoed through the room, and the thirsty growl of water rushing through pipes sounded from the crumbling walls.

Chell reached out for the wall, and her hand met chipped, slimy tiles. Cold water trickled onto her hands as she felt her way blindly along the room.

Suddenly, burning hands gripped her tightly, pushing her into the wall and paralysing her-

Chell's body seized up in fear as a sickening grip coursed through her muscles- arms flailing wildly, her mouth wide in a silent scream, she fought urgently against the hands, and she slowly slipped out of their grip-

Chell stood, shaking, her breath heaving, as far away from the wall as she could. Small electric sparks flashed back at her threateningly as she pulled Cara-Mia away by the wrist.

"Wow, what was that?" Wheatley panted, his large, blue optic glowing brightly. Chell swallowed the bile in her mouth and stumbled on the slippery floor as she backed out of the bathroom.

The next room was the kitchen; a large, oak table filled the room, it's once polished surfaces now gleaming with damp, thick grime.

A few objects lay on the table; two china bowls, their blue patterns faded, a large board with old jars and a thick, grey substance that Chell suspected had once been bread. Ripped, damp pieces of paper were stapled to the walls; Chell could make out a child's drawings, running with water and dark with mould. She strained her eyes, trying to make out the scribbled name at the bottom;

_By Chell._

She backed off, her heart pounding, numb shock filling her. Sickening fear rose up in her again and she clutched Wheatley tighter to her, snuggling into the little reassurance that blue optic offered...

"What's wrong?" Cara-Mia and Wheatley asked in unison. Her breath coming in shallow gasps, Chell pointed to the name and to herself.

"By... Chell," Cara-Mia read aloud. "Who's that?"

Chell pointed to herself again, her stomach churning.

"You?" She asked, failing to hide the fear in her voice. Chell nodded. "But... What could it mean?"

Chell shook her head, backing out of the room. All she knew was, she desperately wanted to get away, to leave this place-

CRASH.

The three were hurled into the air as a bolt of lightning hit the building, ripping through it's rotten ceiling-

Chell landed on the damp floor, panting. Her shaking hands reached for the dim light of Wheatley's optic...

"Are you okay?" Cara-Mia screamed across the room. Chell grabbed the unusually quiet, trembling Wheatley in her sweating hands and pulled herself up, picking her way through the broken floorboards.

The two sisters found each other and Chell stumbled out of the room, into the hall. A smell of smoke filled her nostrils as she stared up at the dark sky through the hole in the cieling-

Suddenly, her feet slipped on the damp floor and she fell down-

Her eyes flew to the deep hole below her and Chell braced herself, curling into a ball around Wheatley-

"No!" A harsh voice called and Chell glanced up to see her sister jump in behind her-

Cold air rushed past her as she closed her eyes, and one thought spun through her mind; Cara-Mia didn't have long fall boots.


	18. Chapter 17

**Cheating Death**

Sickening cracks filled the air as a slack body hit the bottom.

Chell pulled herself up; every single muscle in her body was bruised and aching but luckily, nothing seemed to be broken. Reaching down with limp arms, she carefully picked up Wheatley and examined him.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, concerned. "Thanks for holding me by the way, that probably saved my life, coming to think about - Wait! Cara-Mia!"

Chell whirled around, her grey eyes scanning the dark ground. Almost instantly, she spotted her sister laying motionless on the ground. Carefully setting Wheatley down, she kneeled beside Cara-Mia and tapped her on the shoulder.

Nothing.

Swallowing, Chell slapped her gently round the cheeks, searching hopefully for a reaction.

Still, nothing.

Chell gripped at her wrist, desperate for a pulse.

Nothing.

Chell blinked back tears as she shook her sister by the shoulders, but nothing happened, no response came.

She sat back, staring hopelessly at Cara-Mia's body. It couldn't be happening. Not after everything they'd been through. She hadn't even been able to tell her that they were sisters.

"Is- is she okay?" Wheatley mumbled quietly. Chell shook her head.

Standing up, she picked up a stone and looked at it pitifully. She'd lost someone again. Nothing ever went right. Anger filled her and she hurled the stone away from her. She listened as it clattered to the floor.

"Hey, um, so," Wheatley began uncomfortably. "What exactly is wrong with her- what I mean to say is... Is she alive?"

Chell shook her head again, sinking to the floor.

"I- I could try to help," Wheatley offered feebly. Chell ignored him as she tried to stop the tears from falling down her face. "I have this shock system we could use."

Chell turned and glared at him. Could he not shut up for one second?

"I- I'm sorry," Wheatley added, taken aback by her expression. "I was only trying to help."

Chell's glare softened as she watched his optic lower to the ground submissively. Poor Wheatley... She reached across and pulled him into a hug, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed silently.

"It's okay," Wheatley comforted pathetically. "Um... There is something I can do, as discussed earlier. So don't worry! I can still fix it."

Chell looked trustingly into Wheatley's optic and placed him on top of Cara-Mia's body.

"Okay, you might want to stand back a bit," Wheatley warned. "Just a precaution. It is actually quite dangerous."

Chell stepped back, her eyes shining with hope.

"Here we go..."

ZZZTT.

Cara-Mia's body jerked upwards as electricity jolted through her, but fell back to the floor limply. Chell rushed over to her sister, and put her head to her chest, searching for a heart beat.

Silence.

Chell waited desperately, but no no avail. And then-

_Thump._

A sigh of relief escaped her lips and she sat up, waiting expectantly.

"What's going on? Did it work?" Wheatley asked. Chell nodded and tucked him cozily under her arm.

Air filled Cara-Mia's lungs and she coughed violently, struggling to sit up. Her watering eyes flickered open and she gave a groan of pain as she tried to move her limbs.

"Hey! Yes, it did work! I did it! I actually saved someone's life!" Wheatley cried, ecstatic.

"Thank you, so much," Cara-Mia reached for her two friends and hugged them both speechlessly.

Chell smiled, holding out a hand for her sister. Helping her up, they took in their surroundings. They were in a damp, stony corridor. A rickety staircase led upwards on one side, but a large pile of rocks and rubble blocked off the passage; the only way was down.

Wheatley turned on his flashlight, grumbling quietly to himself; "Why didn't I think of that before?"

He lit up the dark passage that lay ahead. Water dropped from stalactites on the rough cieling, hitting the flooded floor with loud splashes. The end of the rocky tunnel was swallowed up by darkness even Wheatley's bright flashlight couldn't light up.

Chell wandered cautiously down the passage, her footsteps echoing as her long fall boots hit the stony floor.

Wheatley's flashlight slowly revealed a small vault door at the end of the corridor, not unlike one Chell had seen before. Where had she seen that?

It gave a loud groan and a screech as she turned the rusty wheel on the door carefully.

Struggling to push it open, she was surprised at how heavy and thick the door was. She'd thought that before too... But where?

Her train of thoughts were cut off as Wheatley's flashlight illuminated the room behind. Chell cringed back in fear as she saw familiar, bright-white panels shining back at her behind thick layers of grime, hanging from the walls loosely.

_She was back at Aperture._


	19. Chapter 18

**The One Who Got Away**

"Oh god, we're back here again. We can't get away from this place, can we?" Wheatley exclaimed.

Chell stood in the doorway, torn. She didn't want to go back. Caroline had probably been deleted by now, and She was definately going to kill them if She saw them. But it was the only way. The staircase had been blocked off , probably years ago and there was no way they could climb out the way they fell in. But the only other exit was through Her chamber. Chell looked at Wheatley questioningly for his opinion.

"Um... What does that look mean? You want food? No, no. Uh... You want to kill me? Oh, no no, please say no! Okay, good. You... you want to know something? Yes! I got it. Machiavelli," Wheatley praised himself. "So, what do you want to know. Whether we should go here or not? I'm guessing. Um, well, as you know, the only way out is through Her chamber. But we could try and do my old plan again and this time not go through the neurotoxin pipes, and this time actually shut Her down."

Chell looked at him doubtfully.

"Look, I know it didn't work last time, but I'll be honest- it's all we've got. At the moment. So, we could do that. Or, just sit here. Do nothing, probably starve to death. Unless you come up with a plan," Wheatley added seriously. Chell turned to Cara-Mia.

"It doesn't sound like a bad plan to me, but I don't know much about Aperture," Cara-Mia told Chell. "I just think, even if She doesn't see us, She might keep a closer eye on the neurotoxin and turret lines, or maybe have a back-up weapon after what happened last time."

"Mashy-Spike plates," Wheatley muttered guiltily. "I used - doesn't matter actually. Um... She might have them."

Chell nodded gravely. This trip was going to be a hard one.

"How about, we do my plan, and iron out the details later," Wheatley suggested hopefully. "I mean... uh- When I was in charge, I missed - um, you outrun the mashy-spike plates quite easily."

Despite Wheatley's pathetic ideas, Chell's confidence grew. She had overthrown GLaDOS twice, surely a third time should be easy enough. There were so many things that could go wrong, but it was all they had.

"Are we doing it then? Who's in?" Cara-Mia asked. "I am. It's the only way out."

Chell nodded in agreement.

"Let's go!" Wheatley replied excitedly. "Oh, I can't believe this. We're doing my plan again! And this time I promise, we will shut her down instead of... core transfer. And if we do have to do core transfer, this time I won't go m-" Wheatley stopped talking when he saw Chell's expression. "Sorry."

The two sisters, Wheatley in Chell's arms, stepped through the doorway, back into Aperture.

Suddenly, Cara-Mia gasped as she stumbled and nearly fell to the floor. Something clattered loudly and echoed off the slimy walls. Chell looked at her sister enquiringly, and Cara-Mia picked up an old empty can.

A certain _someone_ had been here.

Chell's knees buckled as a chill shivered up her spine. An old, familiar fear pulsed through her veins as she scanned the panels for those sisister drawings, straining her eyes to see the mad writing scribbled across the walls. Sure enough, behind the mould, vague lines, splotched by the leaking water, criss-crossed the white panel like roots from a tree.

Tearing her eyes away from the drawing, she shook the thought out of her head and wandered on through the corridoor, the ominous feeling of being watched creeping through her body.

Cleaner, newer looking panels came into view, as if someone had wiped off the mould more recently. Shadowy sketches of glaring eyes watched them threateningly as they passed, and Chell's pace slowed down, her heart pounding in her ears.

When they came to a corner, a large canvas of the white wall stretched out in front of her, covered in scrawls and doodles; Chell gasped as she spotted red writing blaring angrily at her, spelling out her own name. Thick black brushstrokes sketched out a companion cube. Underneath the insane scribbles, Chell could make out a sketchy painting of the sky and a field of wheat. It looked as if the artist only had a rough idea of what a field of wheat looked like.

Shuddering, she stood back. Chell had seen these paintings before so many times, scars etched into the hidden, darker areas of Aperture. She reached out and touched the painting of the companion cube, thinking longingly of the one back in her car. Why hadn't she brought it along?

The dark paint oozed onto her hand.

Chell walked back in horror, staring at the wet paint on her fingers. It had been painted only moments ago.

_That certain someone was here_.

Cara-Mia and Wheatley didn't have to ask when they saw the wet paint gleaming on the wall. Hesitantly, they moved on towards the panel, the uncanny feeling of being watched building.

Suddenly, a loud clatter echoed through the dark hallway as Chell kicked another empty can. The three gasped and gave a sigh of relief, but remained frozen, as if scared to wake something that lay sleeping in the darkness...

As the women stood silently, straining their ears, Chell heard a mournful wailing-

"... it won't be enough..."

The three of them exchanged glances of terror. Were they about to meet the man who's words had haunted Chell's most disturbing nightmares?

A silent agreement passing between them, they rounded the corner, the feverish ranting growing louder -


	20. Chapter 19

**Left in The Dark**

As the two stepped cautiously down the corridor, Wheatley lighting the path, the feverish chanting grew louder.

"Help me, Uncle Johnson! The cube... My only friend! Cake. Haha. A lie... Little girl... don't be scared- SHE TOOK THE CUBE!"

The scream of rage echoed through the hall into the silence. Then, nothing.

"Running and hiding..." He muttered quietly under his breath. "I'll always need you, cube." Someone started to sob quietly to himself.

Wheatley's flashlight revealed more objects lying on the floor as they walked; horribly mutilated turrets, a cardboard box with a heart drawn on it. A heap of old, stained clothing.

"Stop watching. It's not funny," the voice whispered, so close to Chell that shivers ran down her spine.

As she walked on, a red light from a broken turret flickered pathetically and died out again, and the pile of old clothes shuddered.

As they drew nearer, Chell noticed a matted mop of long, dark hair under the once white cloth.

"Help me, little girl, help me Chell."

Four grasping fingers emerged from the lab coat, long nails broken; followed by a thumb, and a pale, grimy hand, veins protruding. A bony wrist and a long, thin arm slid feebly from under the coat, and the chipped nails screeched against the floor as the arm pushed itself away from the ground, the old, stained lab-coat rising.

A hunched figure stood before Chell, swaying slightly. His skeletal features were hidden under a ragged mop of hair and a beard, but his bright blue eyes were lit up by Wheatley's flashlight, and his nose twitched as if he was sniffing the air for predators.

Chell watched in horror as his gaze met hers and tears spilled down his face-

"It's been so long," He cried, throwing his arms around Chell's shoulders. A pungent smell of sweat, blood and fuel overwhelmed her slightly as she held Wheatley tighter in her arms, struggling to escape the mad mans grip-

But he stood back before she could, his expression changing to a look of utter terror; falling to his knees, he clutched at her ankles, crying into her long-fall boots.

"The cube, the cube! Oh give me the cube, what did you do? What did you do to her?"

Chell stepped away cautiously and watched as he crawled around on the floor, and pulled himself up with difficulty. His look of fear flickered into a grimace of rage as he limped towards her, his blue eyes leering at something in her arms. "You," he accused Wheatley, a long bony finger jabbed at his optic.

"Um- hello!" Wheatley replied, panicked. Chell stared at him questioningly. He knew this man?

"You haven't changed... where's the cube?" He demanded.

"Uh, what cube?" Wheatley asked innocently. "I don't know!"

More tears streamed down the mans face as he attempted to pull Wheatley from Chell's arms into his own. "I'm sorry," he sobbed, "I miss you. I miss the moon. Who are you?"

His expression of sadness changed again and his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he drew away from Wheatley, and hobbled towards Cara-Mia.

"I- I'm Cara-Mia," She replied shrilly, taking a step back. "These are my friends-"

"I know them," the man interrupted. "I've known them all my life. Chell and the moron-"

"I'm not a moron," Wheatley interrupted defensively.

"Don't start a fight," Cara-Mia whispered to him, watching the mans face twist into a frown. "We- we're trying to escape. So, er, we'll be on our way."

"I'm coming too," The man insisted. "Don't leave me here in the dark without the cube. Running and hiding. It's all I've been doing. The cake is a lie, don't go near Her..." His voice trailed off into quiet mutterings under his breath.

"Who are you?" Cara-Mia asked him cautiously.

"I can't remember," The man replied sadly, turning back to a painting on the wall. "What is it... Cube? Cubes not here. No-ones here."

"I remember your name!" Wheatley replied triumphantly. "I have all the test subject names memorised. So not a moron. Anyway. I have them all stored in a file. Your... Um... Doag? Doog? D - O - U - G. Don't know how to pronounce it."

"Doug," Cara-Mia told him quietly.

"Oh, Doug," Wheatley said to himself. "Anyway. Your Doug Rattmann. Apparently. According to the file here. Yes, that's the one that used to bully me all the time. Throw me off my management rail for no reason. Call me a moron." Wheatley's voice was filled with bitterness as he glared at Doug with surprising hatred for such a tiny core. "Anyway, now who's the moron? You've got schizophrenia. Apparently. You moron. Ha - NO NO DON'T DO THAT!"

Doug attempted to snatch Wheatley away from Chell, but she took another step back, holding Wheatley away from him protectively.

Giving up trying to grab Wheatley, he looked back up at Chell, his insane gaze faltering as he reached out for her arm. "I'm coming with you," He whispered, moving closer. Chell could feel his rotten breath on her face, see his blackened teeth. His eyes were sunken and his hollow cheeks were off-white. He had obviously been alone for a long time.

"I saved you, now it's your turn to save me," He claimed. His eyes left hers distractedly and his expression flickered into a friendly grin as he walked towards one of his paintings, talking to it as if him and the painting were having a conversation.

"He's had it," Wheatley muttered. "Absolute nuts. What are we going to do with him?"

Cara-Mia watched the madman doubtfully. "Sneak off now?" She whispered in reply.

Chell shook her head. It didn't feel right abandoning this poor man in the depths of Aperture. He might be mad, and obsessed with her, but no-one deserved to live down here.

And somehow, under that mask of insanity, something about him was... _familiar_.

"But he's mad, he won't know!" Wheatley hissed urgently. "He could attack me any moment anyway!"

Chell stamped her foot in reply and glared at her company stubbornly. She'd made up her mind, and she was going to do what she wanted.

"I suppose it is a bit cruel just to leave him here," Cara-Mia agreed slowly. "Alright."

Wheatley gave in too. "Fine. You get your way. But if he tries to attack me, you have to watch him. So he doesn't attack me. Right? Got it?"

Chell nodded, and turned to Doug who was still in animated conversation with a wall. Gently she tapped him on the shoulder.

"We're going now," Cara-Mia mumbled fearfully. "Are- are you ready?"

"Yes," Doug replied, turning from the wall and staring fixedly at Chell, slightly cross-eyed. "I can't believe how much you changed, my girl. Ah, where are we going?"

"We- we're going to shut off Her turret lines, and neorotoxin supply," Wheatley stammered. "And then, we're going to - to shut Her down. Um, genius idea. Of mine. Although... we do need a - a portal device, thinking about it. Oh. Um... Okay. Does anyone have any clue? To where a portal device might-"

"Follow me!" Doug interrupted loudly, picking up the cardboard box with the heart drawn on it and running down the corridor with surprising speed. Wheatley glared angrily after him at his interruption.

Chell and Cara-Mia exchanged looks, and hesitantly followed behind.


	21. Chapter 20

**Old Scars**

Doug ran silently with great agility down the corridoor, and in comparison to him the two sisters stumbled clumsily behind him. Wheatley was grumbling to Chell; "Why does _he _have to come with us? He's mad, he'll probably ruin my plan, and then we'll all bloody die! Can we just run away? There's no point in taking him, as soon as I get anywhere near him the bloody maniac tries to kill me!"

Chell glared down at him, and Cara-Mia replied in a whisper; "You're just going to have to put it behind you, okay? We need to escape, and even if he's mad, he could still help us."

"How, exactly?" Wheatley asked angrily.

"It looks like he's been here a long time, obviously a bit too long-" Cara-Mia began.

"He's been _alive _ too long," Wheatley interrupted bitterly.

Cara-Mia ignored him. "If he's been here so long, he should probably know his way around this place, and maybe he knows a few other ways out. But... but he can't get out because She's watching him."

Chell shuddered at the thought. If She was watching him then it was certain She could see them now, and was probably going to try and kill them.

"She probably isn't though, She- She's probably just got her eye on the exits," Cara-Mia added, seeing Chell's expression. "Let's get on, anyway."

Up ahead, Doug beckoned to them, standing next to a podium. With a grubby sleeve, he wiped the grime off some old panels to show sketchy paintings and rantings scribbled across the walls. Chell cringed as she saw a painting of herself in a jumpsuit, running past a row of turrets.

"It's you," He smiled earnestly, pointing to the picture on the wall, like a small child searching for approval. Chell nodded, trying not to read the scrawling writing that surrounded her.

"The portal gun's wet," He exclaimed angrily, picking up an old, rusting portal device and shaking the murky water off it. Chell took it gingerly in one hand, holding Wheatley in the other.

"You can't carry both," Doug told her as she struggled to support the weightly device on one arm. Despite his insanity he seemed able to think straight... to a point.

"Don't give me to _him_!" Wheatley panicked, alarmed, not bothering to talk quietly. "He'll just drop me in the water!"

Chell looked at both objects in her arms. She knew she was the best with portals out of the three of them, but she definately didn't trust Doug with Wheatley, and was hesitant to give him to Cara-Mia; what if they got split up?

"Doug's right," Cara-Mia told Chell. "Look at you, you can't run around like that if we're trying to escape."

"Try to use the tractor beam! Anything!" Wheatley almost shouted in his fear.

Chell held Wheatley in a hand in front of her, and activated the tractor beam. But the faulty portal device wouldn't hold his weight and he almost rolled out of her hand.

"Give the _moron_ to _me_," Doug commanded, leering down at the little core who was struggling to keep his balance in Chell's arms. Wheatley glared back at him.

"I'm not a moron! And- and don't give me to him! Um- uh... I know! Keep me, and... and give the portal gun to her! Then we can run around... and she can shoot the portals!" Wheatley exclaimed happily at his idea.

"I have no idea how to use the portal device," Cara-Mia replied flatly. "I can carry him if you want though," She added to Chell. "I'll stay right by your side, whatever happens." She held out her arms. Chell looked at her hesitantly.

"Yeah, that's okay, just not him!" Wheatley told Chell shrilly. "You can give me to her if you want."

Doug scowled at him angrily as Chell placed him gently in Cara-Mia's arms. "You'll be safe with me," She reassured him.

"Let's go," Wheatley said, squirming slightly under Doug's glare. "Um... let's escape! Adventure voice, I- I was using an adventure voice, there. Incase any of you didn't notice." He added in an undertone.

Chell rolled her eyes and smiled slightly at Wheatley's pathetic attempts to keep everyone in an 'adventurous mood'. Raising her eyes to the cieling she spotted a broken catwalk above her.

She pulled a faded blue trigger on her portal device and it gave a voilent shudder as burning sparks flew from the rusty mechanism. A loud crackle sounded from it's flickering blue light, but finally a shining, startlingly pale blue portal was opened on the wall next to the catwalk.

Pulling another trigger, Chell watched, surprised, as a darker blue portal appeared on the wall oposite her. Discarding the strange difference in her portal device she walked carefully through the portal. Perhaps something was wrong with the colours because of the amount of time it had spent in the water.

Chell stepped cautiosly onto the old, worn catwalk. It wobbled dangerously under her weight as she picked her way along it. Cara-Mia followed behind, Wheatley's optic shifting as he tried not to look down.

The catwalk swayed alarmingly as Cara-Mia strode along it as fast as she could, but it suddenly gave way and Wheatley slipped from her arms as she tried to grasp onto something to hold her up-

"Catch me, catch me!" Wheatley cried, hurtling down the slanting catwalk. Spinning off the rusting metal surface, he shot through the air and collided with the wall with a torrent of sparks-

Doug stood below him helplessly, arguing aloud with himself whether to catch him or not-

Chell watched, frozen, as he landed onto a pile of scrap metal, missing the water by inches-

"Ow!" He shouted in pain. "Ow... that really hurt." His optic swivelled to the man who stood over him. "You couldn't have caught me, could you?" Wheatley spat angrily at him. "Couldn't have- just-just held your arms out, could you? Or... or are you too weak or something?"

Doug's look of loss turned into a grimace of rage as he glowered threateningly down at Wheatley. He raised his foot as if about to stamp on him-

"I- I didn't mean it!" Wheatley's optic shrank in fear as he struggled to move on the floor. "Ummm... look! Everyone's still stuck up there. Maybe we should go and- and help them!"

Gasping in fear, Cara-Mia grasped desperately at a railing, swinging back and forth helplessly. Heart pounding in her ears, Chell rushed forward, holding out her hand, but her long-fall boots slipped, screeching loudly down the rusting metal-

Pulse racing, Cara-Mia grabbed her sister's hand, her legs dangling below her-


	22. Chapter 21

**Static Suspense**

Chell's sweating hand slipped down the railing as she tried desperately to keep her sister from falling to the flooded floor, far below.

"I can't hold on for much longer!" Cara-Mia cried, her grip slipping from Chell's hand-

Chell pushed her long fall boots against the almost vertical catwalk, and climbed up it, clutching at Cara-Mia's palm with the little strength she could muster. Her sister found the railing and her nails scraped against the rust as she made a grab for it-

Escaping death hand in hand, the sisters climbed onto a concrete surface, panting. As they pulled each other into a hug of relief, Chell heard a voice scream below her-

"AAAAARGH! No no no, _stop_ it!"

Chell span round and fell to her knees, squinting through the rusting holes in the metal floor of the catwalk. Doug was holding Wheatley millimetres above the water, a mad grin spread across his face-

Grabbing Cara-Mia by the shoulder, Chell pointed to them earnestly.

"Stop that!" Cara-Mia cried shrilly, dark eyes wide with fear. "Don't do it! You could kill him!"

Doug's insane smile faltered as he stared up at her angrily.

"He took my cube!" He shouted bitterly, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. "The first ever cube..."

"I said I'm sorry mate!" Wheatley yelled in reply. "It's not my fault, She made me do it. You know what She's like-"

"MORON!" Doug's eyes lit up with a feverish, ice-cold rage as his knuckles paled, his clenched fist wrapped around one of Wheatley's handles; his arm jolted back, and flew forward in a graceful arch, as if in slow motion-

ZZZZZZT.

Doug froze, his loosening grip on Wheatley tightening again, his face contorted into a silent scream of pain as his eyes rolled and his body twitched, burning bolts of electricity coursing through him-

Heavy eyelids fell over his bright blue eyes, his grimace of agony relaxing; his grip on Wheatley slackened and his arm dropped limply to the ground. His thin, lank body followed, crumpled in a heap, just the way they had found him.

A shocked silence filled the room, it's heavy weight pressing in on Chell's eardrums.

Cara-Mia was the first to break the silence. "You- you..." She began, but trailed off, lost for words.

"Yes," Wheatley replied, unusually hushed.

Everything had turned upside-down; it was like an extremely alien dream. Chell knew Wheatley had tried to kill before, but never... never with the real intention...

Breathless, she stared down at the tiny core. The only thing she could think was how surreal it was; such a small, harmless little thing doing that.

"I- I'm a murderer," Wheatley finally said. His expressionless voice echoed eerily through the old, stony halls, now haunted by the ranting ghost of a madman...

Chell pushed herself up, staring numbly at the body below her. Picking up her portal gun, dully surprised at how it had stayed at the top of the catwalk, she shot an indigo portal into the wall opposite and walked through.

Chell picked Wheatley up gingerly, and Doug's bony hand flopped from Wheatley's handle onto his stomach.

Looking at his expressionless face impassively, Chell was surprised at how old the man looked. His skin looked like parchment stretched across his skull; madness etched into every wrinkle and shadow.

But still, something felt familiar.

"I- I- let's get out of here," Wheatley stammered, as Chell carried him through the portal. What did it look like she was doing? She glared at him, emotion slowly coming back to her.

"Why?" Cara-Mia asked him angrily as she took him from Chell.

"I didn't mean to," Wheatley replied in a small voice, fidgeting in her arms. "I truly didn't want to kill him. I- I was just defending myself!"

Chell would normally have seen his point but at the moment she couldn't even look at him. He'd finally gone too far... Finally he'd done what he'd been holding back for years. He'd actually killed someone.

"Sorry," Wheatley muttered, still unusually quiet. His silence unsettled Chell as they strode along the dimly lit corridor.

After a while of walking, a metal door shone ahead of them; Chell saw her own reflection scowling back at her as she tried to look through the small window in the door.

As they approached it, the door slid open with a hiss, and graffiti on the walls glared at them, silently watching as the sisters stepped warily through the doorway.

The door slammed shut behind them.

"Oh, it's so good you're back," A musical voice echoed through the dark room...


	23. Chapter 22

**Nobel Surprize**

Wheatley trembled in Cara-Mia's arms as the two sisters froze, eyes darting. They were standing at the end of a short hallway. To their left, an old metal staircase led down to the unknown. Ahead, a dim light from above shifted as turbines from a fan turned slowly, lighting up a cylindrical room. The slanting floors were lined with cups, stood like soldiers ready for battle.

Chell's heart sank and her stomach churned as she realised where she was.

"I was so pleased you came back, I even have a little surprise for you," GLaDOS chimed, Her sugary voice dripping with sarcasm.

"A - a surprise?" Wheatley was the first to speak. "That's... That's really nice, actually. Umm... It's- it's really good your being nice, with a nice surprise and that-"

"Did I say nice surprise?" GLaDOS interrupted.

"Ohhh, oh no, it's not nice is it? Oh no, it's going to be a... A mashy spike plate surprise... isn't it? Like... Like when I was..." Wheatley trailed off pathetically, his optic shrinking.

"Do you know, I'm glad you brought that up, actually," GLaDOS told him in a sickly sweet tone. "I have a few... Thank-you gifts for that. Well, quite a lot actually-"

"Oh, thank- ohhh, your being catty aren't you? Your being... Um, Sartascit... Is that what you call it?"

"Oh my god, that moron can't even say sarcastic," GLaDOS exclaimed.

"Not a moron," Wheatley mumbled.

"Anyway, you two," She addressed the two sisters. "I have a little story for you about this place. Do you know where we are?"

"I- no," Cara-Mia stuttered, but Chell nodded.

"Well, this is test chamber 17. Do you remember this one? The one built by one of Aperture Science's Nobel Prize winners. And it wasn't for being immune to neurotoxin. Well, did you know when you were sailing through the air without a care in the world, your father was dying from neurotoxin behind this very wall?"

Chell stared blankly. She didn't want to believe GLaDOS, but she had a faint idea She was telling the truth... It was exactly the kind of thing She'd do.

"Of course, not your real father, he didn't love you," GLaDOS continued gravely. "Well, I'll be honest, neither did your foster father. Anyway. He was the Nobel Prize winner."

Chell knew what was coming next; she could just tell.

"Do you know what my surprise is? Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you. But I think I'll just tell you anyway. Your going to go to the same, sticky end as your farther. Goodbye."

"Neurotoxin at capacity in five minutes," The announcer called.

"I will say though," GLaDOS added, "Since you were so great at testing, I'll get one of my newest test subjects to test while you die. Orange, proceed to test chamber 17. 10 Science Collaboration Points if you solve it. 50 if you find the bunch of dying lunatics. Go. Oh, and moron, after you've watched your friends die, you can have your gifts."

"I am not- oh no, no no no! Don't kill them!" Wheatley begged. Chell watched him pitifully, listening to the desperation in his pleading voice. There had to be a way out, somewhere...

Chell climbed down the metal stairway, her breaths coming in short gasps. The neurotoxin was already getting to her... Trying ignore the dull ache in her lungs she bit her lip and kept walking, portal gun in hand.

But the exit at the bottom had been blocked off; the panel had closed. Swaying, Chell dragged her feet as she climbed slowly back up the staircase, stumbling clumsily.

There had to be another way out somewhere...

Chell pulled herself up the stairs, desperately grabbing at the rail to hold herself up. Fighting to think straight, she staggered along the floor, the pain in her chest growing... But her legs couldn't take her weight any longer, despite her long fall boots... Her knees buckled under her and she fell forward into the room at the end of the hallway. The pain in her chest rising to her throat, Chell bit her lip harder and tasted blood in her mouth. Staring through the mesh floor below her, Chell spotted a white wall... could it possibly work?

A splintering pain filled every part of her body as she reached out for her portal device, her head spinning... She pulled the trigger and a dark blue portal appeared on the wall below. Shooting a portal at the wall opposite her, she looked across to Cara-Mia and Wheatley. She was curled tightly in a ball, eyes closed in agony. Chell tugged at her arm and dragged herself through the portal...

Down here the air was only slightly fresher, but Chell felt her lungs relax a tad as she gasped a breath of it. Pulling herself up as much as she could, her arms still tingling in pain, Chell crawled along the cold floor below her blindly...

Feeling her sister's comforting presence, Chell gasped a breath of the burning air as she looked up and saw a wall tower above her... A door handle teased her, inches out of her reach...

Behind the walls, only a few yards away, something stirred in the darkness. Water rippled slightly as an old bundle of clothes twitched, spluttering and coughing.


	24. Chapter 23

**How The Bird Got Out**

A little robot lept from her reassembly machine expectantly, her orange optic shifting through the dimly lit room. She gave a rattling call that echoed eerily into the silence, but no reply came. The robot stamped her feet, agitated. Where was her companion? _She_ had never sent the robot on a mission by herself.

The robot, named Orange looked around again, dissapointed. When would she see her partner in science again?

"Get on with the test," GLaDOS complained. "Remember, 50 collaboration points if you find the dying lunatics."

Orange jumped at her voice and took a step forward. She obviously had to finish this test and he would probably be waiting for her at the end. Still, by herself?

She couldn't help wondering if She had done something to Blue as she walked through the door into a brightly lit room ahead.

As she took in her surroundings, one of the first things she noticed was a broken window in the observatory above her. That was unusual. She hadn't seen any broken glass, or grimy panels since That Time that GLaDOS kept talking about.

Orange looked around, wondering if she could get into the observatory. She couldn't put a portal in the room, it was too high up. But could she use a light bridge?

Orange spotted one in the corner of the room, and using her portals she hopped onto it with ease. Shooting a portal onto the wall opposite the observatory she jumped through and skipped along the bridge.

Arriving at the observatory she noticed a cracked door on the wall, and her sensors picked up the smell of... neurotoxin? Orange opened the door and wandered into the corridoor behind it.

With a jump of joy, she saw an indigo portal smiling back at her, and she rushed towards it. With another jump, she saw a bright blue optic shining back at her; It was her friend!

As she drew nearer, she noticed two women lying on the floor, staring at her weakly. She blinked at them helplessly, looking to her friend for help.

But it wasn't Blue. It was a core.

"You've got to help us!" The core burst out desperately, his optic darting nervously. "We're all going to die if you don't help us! Please!"

Orange drew back. She knew that voice.

GLaDOS had deleted her memory of That Time, but now it all came rushing back to her as she heard Wheatley's voice...

"Please please please!" Wheatley begged, losing enthusiasm as he watched her stare at him, confused. "I- I know I was... a monstrous... monster! I'm sorry about the- the um... lack of reassembly! The reassembly machine went out of order, because it... um, it melted, but that doesn't matter now! I - I really need your help! Now!"

"50 Science Collaboration Points for finding the dying lunatics," GLaDOS praised on the other side of the room. "Leave them to die now, I can't see you back there but I'm _trusting_ you to come back. See? I told you I trusted you."

Orange glanced behind her at the red light of GLaDOS' camera, which glared back at her furously.

"Please, they don't have much longer to live!" Wheatley pleaded with her, his voice filled with emotion. "Look at them! They'd - I'm sure I can... um, help... if you need it, _if_ you save us!"

Orange looked at him doubtfully, but her empathy for him and the humans was taking over.

"Oh, come on, don't listen to that _moron_," GLaDOS complained. "If you come back now, you'll get an extra 50 Science Collaboration Points. I'm not lying this time, and besides, that place is no longer a part of the test."

100 Science Collaboration Points? Orange shivered in excitement at the idea of so many.

"I- I know collabtion points, or- or whatever they're called, are very important. But- but what do they actually do?" Wheatley stammered hopelessly. "Just- please, all you have to do is open the door and push us in there, or something! Just- get us away from the neurotoxin!"

Orange watched in horror as he closed his shutters and started to sob. She had never seen a robot cry before, not even Blue. Pulling herself together, she pushed her robotic hand down on the door handle and pushed open the door-

"What are you _doing_?"GLaDOS shouted angrily. Orange jumped at Her anger but pushed the paralyzed humans and the core inside the room as carefully as she could, closing the door behind them. Her neurotoxin sensors went down, and she watched, satisfied as the human's eyes began to flicker open.

"Oh, thank you so so much!" Wheatley sighed, still sobbing in relief. "Could you - could you just direct us to the nearest exit please, if you know the way?"

But Orange wasn't listening. Why was Blue's portal device here, laying on the floor? She pointed to it and looked at Wheatley quizzically.

"I- um... we found that on the ground a few miles back," He told her. "Turns out an old mad man couldn't use it... actually, don't want to think about _him_... and what I... doesn't matter. Well, thanks for your help! We'll... we'll just be on our way then. Do you- do you want to come with us? Or..."

"You know, I can't see you or reach you back there, but I can still make Orange self destruct," GLaDOS stated matter-of-factly. "I thought that there was _something_ missing... I suppose I'll have to get Orange and Blue to find me that disk..." She mused to herself. "Well anyway. If you don't come back with the idiots, Orange, I'll have to take off all of your Science Collaboration Points. Both yours and Blue's. And _one of you _won't ever be reassembled _ever again_. Okay, that last part _was_ a lie. But I can delete one of your memories. And you'll have to complete the entire testing track again and again, for the rest of your lives..."


	25. Chapter 24

**Safe For Now**

Chell coughed harshly as she gasped a breath of cold, dry air. Every bone in her body twinged in pain as she tried to pick herself up, her skin stinging against the rough, icy floor.

Chell's limp arm flopped feebly onto the ground, searching vainly for her company. When she opened her eyes, it hardly made any difference, apart from a crack of dim, blue light some way off...

With the little strength she could gather, Chell propped herself onto her elbows and kicked the ground gently with her long fall boots. The thin crack of light widened to a familiar, bright blue optic-

"Ah, you're awake!" Wheatley exclaimed in joy. "I- I just went into sleep mode while I was waiting... I was... Quite worried about you. Your friend hasn't woken up yet."

Chell dragged herself towards Wheatley, her body too heavy for her legs to carry. Maybe GLaDOS was right about her maybe losing a few pound- No. It was the neurotoxin.

Sitting next to him, she looked blindly through the dark to find her sister. Where was she?

As she strained her eyes to make out shapes shining from the dim light given off by Wheatley's optic, two eyes glimmered weakly ahead of her, two pinpricks of the faintest light.

"Wheatley?" Cara-Mia's hoarse voice echoed through the unknown darkness.

"Yes, over here! We're both over here!" Wheatley replied.

Cara-Mia crawled slowly towards them, breathing heavily. "Can you turn on your flashlight, so we can see where we are?" She asked, panting as she approached them.

"Right, um... Ah. Here we go-" Wheatley's flashlight switched on in a bright glare, and Chell was blinded by the light as she shielded her eyes from it.

"Wow, don't shine it in my face," Cara-Mia whispered, overwhelmed.

"Sorry," Wheatley muttered in reply. "I-I think I got a bit disorientated after... Um... After... Well, you know what-what happened, so..." He trailed off guiltily.

"Yes," Cara-Mia replied gravely. "Yes, we know. Anyway, we'll- we'll have to forget it. We need to get out of here." Chell nodded in agreement.

Shakily pulling herself up with her slowly regaining strength, Chell swayed back and forth trying to find her balance.

"This robot got here and pushed us through the door," Wheatley explained. "Kept screeching at me- couldn't understand a word it was saying. But it saved us, which was nice. And She kept threatening it too. Actually, thinking about it, She's only on the other side of that door, we're-we're only just out of Her reach."

"Okay, let's go," Cara-Mia hissed, getting to her feet with difficulty, and almost falling back down again as she stooped to pick up Wheatley. "Have you got your portal device?" She added to Chell.

Chell nodded in reply, holding up the tattered device and taking a few wobbly steps forward.

The room Wheatley had lit up was quite small and cramped, and an old emergency exit door lay ahead. The smell of wet dust mingled with the lingering stench of neurotoxin filled it as they stumbled towards the door. As Chell pushed the handle, Wheatley's flashlight lit up the hallway behind. Chell stared, trying to make out the end of it; but it seemed to go on forever.

"Apparently, the way out is along this corridoor," Wheatley told them doubtfully, listening to the steady drops of water fall to the stony ground.

"Let's go," Cara-Mia said again, and the two sisters hesitantly stepped into the dark passageway, fear gripping at them as they walked into the silence.

Somewhere else underground, a hunched figure swilled the water in a puddle next to him frantically, as if he was searching for something. Seemingly giving up, the figure leaned back and gave out a loud wail that echoed through the walls eerily...

Regaining his hunched posture, the old man's soaked hair was swept out of his face as he ran a pale, skeletal hand through it and his ghostly features caught the dim light from a flickering lamp some way off...

His eyes filled with hopeless tears as they darted from wall to wall, nose twitching. Muttering inaudible words under his breath, Doug Rattmann's shoulder's shook as he raised his head, a snarl of insane hatred etched across every wrinkle in his face, his trembling hands curling into fists-


	26. Chapter 25

**Fleeing From The Darkest Blue**

Chell stared into the distance, exhausted, as the end of the corridor slowly emerged from the distance into the sister's view. Rusting, iron doors with smashed glass windows passed them as they walked on, their bodies weighing them down.

"I- I wonder if... if we went the wrong way," Wheatley began feebly.

Chell privately agreed. They had been going on for what seemed like ages now, and there was no adrenal vapour back here...

"We have been going through this hall for - for quite a long time now,! Wheatley continued in the background as Chell squinted at the wall ahead of them. Was that a door?

"Perhaps the exit's through... that door! Or that one, or that one..."

Chell rolled her eyes and looked over to Cara-Mia, who looked back, trying to hide a smile.

"...Or that one, or that- oh god, _is that what I think it is_?!" Wheatley suddenly exclaimed, his optic shrinking as he stared through a cracked window pane. Chell's eyes widened as she stared at the spot Wheatley was looking at. Something moved quickly, as if running out of their view.

"What was it?" Cara-Mia asked, her voice shaking. "I've had enough of this underground place, I want to get out of here!"

"I don't know what- what it was, exactly," Wheatley stuttered a reply, giving a nervous laugh. "Okay, that- that was a lie. It- well, I think it was, that is to say- um, the - the guy I- Uh, Rattman."

The sisters froze as they stared at him, shocked. "You killed him," Cara-Mia insisted. "It can't be. It must have been something else. It- it has to be."

Chell had a feeling deep down that it was, but nodded all the same. She didn't want to know it. She just wanted them to get out of here, before that mad man came back.

"Just- let's go," Wheatley said fearfully.

A few minutes later, they had reached the door at the end of the hallway. An old, worn sign above it read in faded writing; _Elevator to Surface_. As they examined the door, searching for a way in, another sign blared across the front of it; _OUT OF ORDER._

"What are we going to do now?" Wheatley complained. "The only way out is broken, theres no way other way except through Her chamber-"

"We'll just have to try," Cara-Mia interrupted, looking the filthy doors up and down. "We've come all this way, there's no turning back now."

Chell raised her portal gun to the glass windows and pulled the trigger. Shattered shards of it fell to the floor, shining dimly in Wheatley's flashlight. Aiming the device through the broken window she pulled the trigger again, but the beam hit the old metal wall and only a few sparks buzzed off the walls. The portal gun had finally given out.

"Well, that's the end of that," Wheatley said dully, watching a few sparks fall from the old device's rusting wires. "I- I suppose there's no other way into that elevat-"

Suddenly, Wheatley fell silent, and his optic shrank to a tiny pinprick. The two sisters exchanged glances, listening hard. Very distant footsteps echoed through the dark hallway, getting louder...

Chell dug her nails in between the two doors frantically, felt the rust scrape from the metal onto her fingers. Forcing the doors apart, a loud screech drowned out the footsteps as Cara-Mia joined in and they finally opened the elevator doors.

The footsteps filled the air as the two sisters squeezed through the half-open doors, and searched for a button-

Briefly looking up, Chell saw two bright blue eyes glare back at her, lit up with a snarl of rage-

"You left me behind," Doug accused, every syllable filled with spite. The squeal of rubber on metal sounded as he hurled himself towards the elevator-

Cara-Mia pressed the button in the elevator just in time, and they felt it rising slowly with a groaning rattle-

BANG.

"What- what was that?" Wheatley dared to ask, looking up at the two sisters in terror.

"I have no idea," Cara-Mia replied as the elevator creaked and shook. "The important thing is, we're getting out of here."

"I- I'm just wondering, why was there an out of order sign?" He asked carefully, watching as the walls around them sank below.

"I don't know, I just hope it's because it's going slowly," Cara-Mia said distractedly, "I wonder if there's a speed up button?"

BANG.

The elevator gave a voilent shudder and the sisters were thrown to the other side-

Up above them, Chell could make out a thin line of light...


	27. Chapter 26

**Spread Your Wings**

Chell pointed above and the other two exclaimed. They were nearly there!

"Come on," Cara-Mia encouraged to the elevator under her breath as it gave another tremor. "Only a bit more to go..."

Chell watched a the line of light that appeared to come from a door slowly approached them, until it was just above their heads-

BANG.

With a huge shudder the elevator came to a stop.

"What's going on?" Wheatley asked, panicking. "I mean- why has the elevator stopped and what's- what is that noise?"

"I really don't know," Cara-Mia replied shrilly, jabbing at the up button repeatedly, but to no avail.

Chell reached up to the little daylight and her fingertips brushed a ledge. Reaching up again, she jumped and caught hold of it with her hands-

BANG.

"Um, whoever's doing that can you stop down there?" Wheatley called uncertainly.

"It's not a person," Cara-Mia laughed nervously. "It's the elevator, there's no way it's going to sto-"

"I won't stop until you let me out!" Another voice from below them shouted in reply, proving Cara-Mia wrong.

The elevator creaked as it swayed in the deadened silence.

Chell pushed herself onto the ledge with all her might; the daylight was shining in her face now. She grabbed at her sisters shoulder desperately, and Cara-Mia took her hand-

BANG.

Air rushed past her as Chell watched the floor of the elevator collapse under her sister; Cara-Mia scrambled onto the ledge just in time-

Four pale fingers creeped over the ledge.

Chell watched, her heart racing, as another shaking hand reached weakly for something to hold on to-

Without thinking, Chell looked over the ledge, staring at that oh so familiar face, haunted by madness-

"What- what are you doing, exactly?" Wheatley panicked from Cara-Mia's arms. "Get back! He's mad!"

Cara-Mia stared, lost, as she watched the hand slowly losing grip on the ledge...

Chell didn't know why, but something was telling her to hold out her hand, to help him up... But his face was still twisted into that terrible grimace of bitter fury...

As she stared into that old, scarred face, a cold hand grasped at her wrist-

Screaming silently, Chell shook her arm desperately, struggling to fight the old man's grip-

But his limp hand slipped from her wrist easily.

His ice-cold rage was replaced with the smallest smile as he let go of the ledge, and his bright blue eyes met Chell's for a moment, a moment that lasted forever...

Chell watched as her foster father fell through the broken floor of the elevator, his body strangely twisted as he flew almost gracefully through the air as if in slow motion; She could see every movement, every ripple in his hair, that little smile still fixed on his face...

And then he was gone.


	28. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Everything was so still, so hushed; perhaps too quiet, even for such a secret place, forgotten by civilization years ago. The faint ripple of wind whisperered to the golden stalks of wheat, which swayed ever so slightly in reply. The sun watched from above, it's warm glare reflected by the bright lead roof of an old, overgrown shed. The pressure of the silence alone was overwhelming; not even the faintest bird song caught the wind.

As the warm breeze died down and the air became hot and still again, the faintest, most distant rustling could be heard. As it grew louder, two slim figures in black broke over the horizon and walked gravely through the wheat towards the shack ahead of them.

One of them was carrying a core in her arms. It's bright blue optic flashed nervously at the wheat below. The other held an Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube, her arms thrown around it protectively. She stroked it's familiar, scratched surfaces with her fingers for the last time as the two women sat next to each other by the shed.

"Well, it's only been a few weeks, now, since - well..." The first woman trailed off, looking across at her sister carefully. "Chell... How did you know in the end? How did you know it was him?"

Her sister shook her head speechlessly and lowered it, her hair hiding her face from view.

"Do you... do you remember what he was like? Before that day...?" The first woman asked tentatively. The core in her arms stared on quietly, seemingly not trusting itself to speak.

The second woman nodded her head and tightened her grip on the strange box in her arms.

The two sisters and the core sat in silence, staring through the crack in the door of the shed. Tears ran down the second sister's face as she stared fixedly at the heart on the top of the cube that she held closely in her arms.

Finally, the core couldn't help itself and broke the silence. "So- so are you... are you going to do it?"

The girl nodded slowly and hesitatantly pulled herself up, dragging her heels as she walked towards the shed, her grip on the cube ever tighter. The door opened with a creak as she pushed it forward and walked inside. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes as she leaned over a ledge and stared into a deep pit below her. Opening her eyes, the girl gasped another shuddering breath and held the cube in front of her, above the dark opening.

She stood there for some time, breathing uneasily as she stared from the cube to the pit.

"Let it go now," The other sister with the core in her arms told her soothingly. "It's all behind you now. It will help you leave it behind. I promise."

Hands shaking, her grip on the cube slackened and it fell into the darkness below, a loud clatter sounding as it hit the bottom. The younger sister let out a sigh of grief as she turned and looked across at her two companions through tear-stained eyes.

"Well done," Her sister praised quietly. "That must have been hard. Does it feel better?"

The second woman nodded shakily in reply and walked backwards towards her sister. Stroking the core with a sweaty hand, she started to breathe easily again.

"We're sorry, Doug," The first woman with the core stated quietly. "At - at least you... at least you were happy when you... in the end."

Her sister nodded in agreement, wiping tears from her eyes roughly with her sleeve and sniffing.

"Can- can we go now, please?" The core stammered fearfully, breaking the tense silence once again. "Let's just go back to the car, the ghost might come after me!"

"I've already told you, ghosts don't exist," The first woman replied, smiling grimly. "But the police are probably on their way. If they find us before we leave the country, we'll be in deep trouble."

Silently, the two sisters turned away from the old tattered shed and marched towards the horizon, their figures dissapearing into the distance.

The wheat remained still again, and the breeze sighed gently. The shed stood on furtively as if hiding something secret below it's rotting foundations.

Hours later when the sun had fallen below the horizon, when the breeze held it's breath, the slightest disturbance from below echoed up to the surface. The wheat rippled secretly as a cry of glee broke out, only to be hushed by the wind.

Small chatters and murmers sounded from below as a cold breeze started to pick up; the moon stared as the muttering grew louder.

Suddenly, inside the old tumble-down shed, a Weighted Companion Cube was pushed out of the darkness and landed on the concrete floor with a clunk. Two hands crept onto the ground after it; a matted mop of hair followed, falling over two bright blue eyes. The old man's shadowy features were lit with awe as his shining eyes reflected the moon, and his trembling lips could only shape one word;

"_Freedom_."


	29. Note from the Author

**Note from the Author**

Hello everyone! It's me here. Not a moron by the way. Just so you know, this isn't another chapter from the story. If, unlike me you have common sense, you probably already know that by reading the title; _Note from the Author_. This is going to be me rambling about this story so don't bother reading it if you don't enjoy reading author's notes!

First I will say thank you! To everyone who has reviewed (especially Umbre0n, who has reviewed multiple times, thank you!), followed and favourited. Every time I see a new review, follower or favourite I litterally do a little robot dance, not unlike P-Body. Somehow I found my story on the front page of the fanfiction portal archive, which is _tremendous_!

Now here comes some spoilers for the story, so if for some reason you're skipping to the last chapter before reading the story (one thing you should never do when reading a story, and one thing that I always do) don't read this bit unless you want to know what happens. Now you might be asking yourself "Why is D. Rattman Chell's foster father, and how did it come about that Chell's long lost sister is a worker at Black Mesa?"

Let me answer that question with a question. Who wants to make £60? Seriously though. You might think I've left it to you to imagine how this came about, but it sounds too much like a plot hole to me. So guess what? I said _guess_, but I'll give you a clue because I'm not a monster.

I'm _not_ going to write a second story about what happens afterwards, but I might just write a story about what happens _before_. Get it? I don't know if you're picking up on what I'm saying there, but I'm not going to say anything else except one word; Caroline. Okay, it was a name, but you know.

Anyway, as you probably have guessed, I _don't_ own Portal 1, Portal 2 or Lab Rat. I also don't own Chell, Wheatley, GLaDOS, D. Rattman, Rick the Adventure Sphere or Caroline. Nope, those all belong to Valve. If they belonged to me, Portal 3 would be out by now. Which it isn't. Still, Valve will always be the best game company, even if they can't count to three.

Well anyway. I really hope you enjoyed reading this story, and thanks for giving it a go! Goodbye!

_...For now_. Moohahahahahaha!

P.S. Evil laugh there. That was a, uh... evil laugh. Totally not a cow laughing. Just in case you were wondering.

P.P.S. (In reply to Umbre0n's question about Rattman) Perhaps he is immortal... He is the One That Got Away after all...

Sorry. In a mysterious mood at the moment. For some reason I decided to make him a surprisingly tough man behind all his schizophrenia. After all, he has spent his entire life hiding in Her shadow. He was probably unconscious for a few days and had to lie low for a few more weeks to recover. But who's to say it wasn't the coat...?


End file.
